Indians vs Cardinals Picks and Odds – August 30th
- The Cleveland Indians are -122 moneyline favorites over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday (Aug. 30, 2:15 pm EST)
- Aaron Civale (3-3, 3.15 ERA) will start for Cleveland, while St. Louis will give the ball to Adam Wainwright (2-0, 2.88 ERA)
- Read below for a preview and betting prediction for the game
A day after pounding 20 hits and crossing the plate 14 times, the Cleveland Indians needed 12 innings just to score two runs. Nevertheless, that was enough offense to squeak by the St. Louis Cardinals, and move to an AL Central best 21-12.
Fair to say we stand atop the American League Central standings.#OurTribe | #WWWWindians pic.twitter.com/EhSIKQC7Nf
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) August 29, 2020
Cleveland will look to complete the three-game sweep of St. Louis on Sunday at 2:15 pm EST, and notch its fifth straight win in the process.
Indians vs Cardinals Odds
| Team | Moneyline at FanDuel | Runline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Indians | -122 | -1.5 (+134) | O 8.0 (-102) |
| St. Louis Cardinals | +106 | +1.5 (-158) | U 8.0 (+120) |
Odds taken Aug. 30th
The AL Central leaders opened up as a -122 favorite in the Indians vs Cardinals odds, in a game that features a total of 8. Despite the offensive outburst on Friday, Cleveland tends to play a lot of low scoring games, as seven of its past 10 games have failed to eclipse the over.
Outstanding Arms All Around
The main reason so many Indians games stay under the total is due to their fantastic pitching. Cleveland leads all of MLB in ERA (2.75) and WHIP (1.04), and ranks second in strikeouts (343) and opponent batting average (.211).
On Sunday, they’ll give the ball to Aaron Civale, who boasts a 10.0 K/9 rate, and a 40-4 strikeout-to-walk rate. The sophomore has pitched at least 6 innings in all six starts this season, allowing more than three runs only once. He’s only one start removed from a complete game five-hitter against Pittsburgh, and all but one of his starts have stayed under the total.
Aaron Civale, Beautiful 75mph Curveball. 🤩
Gonzalez Bends the Knee and Nods to his King. pic.twitter.com/2UdNGmchfU
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 25, 2020
The St. Louis bats meanwhile, have struggled recently scoring three or fewer runs in four straight. Not surprisingly, they’ve lost each of those outings, and their 3.87 runs per game, is the second worst mark in baseball. They’ve hit just 19 home runs in 24 contests, and no player on the roster has gone deep more than three times.
Cardinals Career Stats vs Civale
| Player | AB | H | HR | RBI | K | AVG. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kolten Wong | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Tommy Edman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Paul Goldschmidt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Tyler O’Neill | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Matt Carpenter | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Harrison Bader | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Brad Miller | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Dexter Fowler | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Yadier Molina | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Civale has yet to face the Cardinals, but is 1-1 in two career interleague starts, allowing three runs in 14.2 innings.
Wainwright Has Still Got It
While Cleveland’s pitching is elite, St. Louis’ is no slouch. The Cards rank fourth in MLB in ERA (3.65) and third in WHIP (1.15). They’ll send veteran Adam Wainwright to the mound on Sunday, who’s yet to taste defeat this season.
Adam Wainwright at Busch Stadium since the beginning of 2019:
108IP, 2.32 ERA, 3.62 FIP
opponents slash: .218/.265/.331/.596
.255 wOBA
1.03 WHIP
35 bb (4%) / 93 k’s (23%)
52% GB rate
32 xbh (20 doubles, 12 HRs)— Stew (@StewStilez) August 25, 2020
The 39-year-old has pitched at least 6 innings in three of four starts, and has been especially strong at home over the past two seasons. Wainwright has a 2.32 ERA in 108 innings at Busch Stadium dating back to last season, and has held opponents to a .255 wOBA.
Despite pitching in the Majors since 2005, he’s made just one career start versus Cleveland, but is 15-11 lifetime in interleague play. His outings tend to be low scoring, as just one his four starts has produced a double-digit total, and that’s only because St. Louis exploded for nine runs.
Indians Career Stats vs Wainwright
| Player | AB | H | HR | RBI | K | AVG. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cesar Hernandez | 6 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | .167 |
| Jose Ramirez | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Francisco Lindor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Carlos Santana | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Franmil Reyes | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Roberto Perez | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Domingo Santana | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .308 |
| Delino DeShields | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Tyler Naquin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Play the Under
Friday’s 14-2 thrashing by Cleveland was a complete anomaly and shouldn’t be factored in to your decision when betting this game. Both of these teams feature excellent pitching and stay under the total at a very high rate.
Aaron Civale, Wicked Curveball…Polanco nearly literally swung his head off. 🤕 pic.twitter.com/cX8W3ryhzT
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 25, 2020
21 of Cleveland’s 33 games have stayed under the total, while the under is 12-10-2 in St. Louis’ 24 contests. Dating back to last season, 58% of Cardinals home games have failed to eclipse the total, including three of the past four.
Pick: Under 8.0 (-120)
As SBD's resident Swiss Army Knife, Chris covers virtually every sport including NFL, PGA, NBA, MLB, NCAAB, NCAAF and the Olympics. A true grinder, he'd rather pick off small edges in the player props market than swing for the fences with a 5-leg parlay.
