Game Information
St. Louis Cardinals (46-38) at Cleveland Guardians (40-41)
Time: 11:05am CT Sunday
How to watch: Roku
Probable pitchers: Matthew Liberatore (5-6, 3.96 ERA) vs Logan Allen (5-5, 4.25 ERA)
DraftKings Odds
Moneyline: Cardinals -127, Guardians +104
Total: 8.5 (over -108, under -112)
Redbirds Go For Sweep
The St. Louis Cardinals go for the sweep of the Cleveland Guardians when the two teams meet in the series finale in an early 11:05am CT start on Sunday.
The Redbirds have once again reached their high-water mark of being eight games over .500. They have had four prior opportunities to get to nine over .500, but they have lost each time.
Cards Face Another Lefty
The Cardinals are under .500 with a 14-15 record against left-handed starters this season, and they face another one on Sunday in Logan Allen. The Cards are 9-3 in their last 12 games, with all of those losses coming against southpaws. The Redbirds headed into Saturday’s action ranking 15th in MLB with a .677 OPS against lefties.
It’ll be Matthew Liberatore getting the ball for the Cardinals in this one. He has been good in his last two starts after going through a bit of a funk. Liberatore has had back-to-back quality starts while allowing just 4 runs on 11 hits and 1 walk in 13 innings of work.
Guardians Struggle Vs. Lefties
While the Cardinals have had struggles against left-handers, Cleveland has been worse. The Guardians have a 7-15 record against left-handed starters, and their .622 OPS against southpaws heading into Saturday ranked 27th in MLB.
Allen has been an ordinary pitcher for Cleveland this season with a 4.25 ERA, but he does have the advantage of the unknown against the Cardinals. The only hitter on the Redbird roster to have faced Allen previously is Garrett Hampson.
My Pick
I think this is a good spot to take the under 4.5 in the first five innings.
As outlined above, both teams have had a tough time against left-handed starters, so I think we could see a sleepy beginning to this game.
And speaking of sleepy, this game has an early start because it’s being televised on Roku. “The Roku under” as I call it has been a theme this season, with the first five under going 6-1 in the first seven Roku games this season. It is a small sample size, it may mean nothing, but it’s something I’ve noticed and this just has the feel to me of a low-scoring game.
Pick: Under 4.5 in the first five innings at -115 on DraftKings (bet to -120)
Eric Sontag hosts Domesticated Gamblers every Friday on the STL Sports Central YouTube channel. Follow him on X @GamblingDads, and click here for his daily picks on all of our St. Louis area sports teams. Picks = betting the game - minus odds betting to win 1 unit, plus odds risking 1 unit. Leans = no strong opinion, not betting the game. Disclaimer