The St. Louis Cardinals host the Cleveland Guardians on April 15, 2026. First pitch from Busch Stadium is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. EDT. The game will be broadcast on CARD.
The Cardinals are priced at -116 to win and at +155 to cover the run line (-1.5). The Guardians are slight underdogs at -102 and priced at -210 to cover +1.5. The total is set at 8.5 runs.
Find my MLB picks and Guardians vs Cardinals prediction below, as well as probable pitchers, weather report, and more.
Guardians vs Cardinals Prediction
- Guardians vs Cardinals Pick: Over 8.5 Runs -105 (FanDuel, Play to -115)
My Guardians vs Cardinals best bet is on game totals. Make sure to find the best odds by checking our live MLB odds page.
Guardians vs Cardinals Odds
| Guardians Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-1.5 +168 | 8.5 -105o / -115u | -102 |
| Cardinals Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+1.5 -205 | 8.5 -105o / -115u | -116 |
- Guardians vs Cardinals spread: Guardians +1.5 (+168), Cardinals -1.5 (-205)
- Guardians vs Cardinals over/under: 8.5 (-105 / -115)
- Guardians vs Cardinals moneyline: Guardians -102, Cardinals -116
Guardians vs Cardinals Projected Starting Pitchers
| RHP Slade Cecconi (CLE) | Stat | RHP Dustin May (STL) |
|---|---|---|
| 0-2 | W-L | 1-2 |
| -0.1 | fWAR (FanGraphs) | 0.1 |
| 5.74 / 6.18 | ERA /xERA | 9.45 / 5.18 |
| 5.42 / 4.23 | FIP / xFIP | 4.61 / 4.39 |
| 1.21 | WHIP | 1.80 |
| 13.2% | K-BB% | 12.7% |
| 50.0% | GB% | 41.3% |
| 93 | Stuff+ | 103 |
| 95 | Location+ | 99 |
Guardians vs Cardinals Preview
Cleveland Guardians Betting Preview
Slade Cecconi has adjusted his pitch mix thus far this season, as he's mixed in his cutter 25.5% of the time, as opposed to a slider which was ineffective in 2025. The cutter has not been overly effective to this point, as it's generated a whiff rate of 15.6%, and batters have slugged .429 against it.
Overall, nothing has been overly effective for Cecconi, as he holds an xERA of 6.18, has allowed an xBA of .279, and is in the 19th percentile in terms of barrel rate this season. He holds a Pitching+ rating of 85 and a strikeout-minus-walk rate of 13.2%.
The Guardians' relief staff has had a relatively poor start to the season, as across 60 innings Guardians relievers have pitched to an ERA of 4.80, and an xERA of 4.23.
Cleveland has been scrappy and effective at the plate thus far this season. Chase DeLauter, slugging .680 has certainly been the biggest story, but the majority of the lineup has consistently offered quality at-bats. It currently holds a wRC+ of 102 and ranks ninth in expected weighted on-base average and ninth in xSLG.
The Guardians also hold the eighth best BB/K ratio and the sixth-lowest chase rate in MLB.
St. Louis Cardinals Betting Preview
To this point, the Cardinals' bet on a potential resurgence from Dustin May has not paid dividends, as "Big Red" has been comparably ineffective as he was last season. May currently holds an xERA of 5.18 and has been hard-hit 53.2% of the time. He's generated a whiff rate of just 16% and a chase rate of 25%.
May did enter off of what was his best outing of the season versus the Red Sox; however, he did allow a hard-hit rate of 50%, including allowing five balls with exit velocities north of 100 MPH that amounted to one single, and held a K-rate of 17%.
St. Louis has gotten off to a fairly slow start offensively with a wRC+ of 94 thus far, but its process continues to appear quite reasonable but has been marred by the third-lowest BABIP in MLB. The Cardinals rank eighth in xSLG, seventh in expected weighted on-base average, and hold the fourth best BB/K ratio in baseball.
Guardians vs Cardinals Picks
At the time of writing, the total is set at 8.5, and will likely be a trendy play with two unconvincing starters going head to head.
May did finish with a strong stat line in his last start, but it was far from a dominant showing and was certainly still an outlier compared to what we have seen over the last several seasons. Cleveland's offensive process has looked quite strong thus far, and it should be able to find success against a starter who has generated very little swing-and-miss while allowing plenty of hard contact.
Cecconi also has not looked overly convincing to start the season, while the Cardinals appear to have been one of the unluckiest teams in the league offensively and should be due for better results in the near future.
I'm surprised to see this total open at 8.5, and believe there is value betting the over up to a price of -115.
Pick: Over 8.5 Runs -105 (FanDuel, Play to -115)
