MLB Early Doubleheader - Wednesday
- Handicapper
- Jim Feist
- League
- MLB
- Competition
- Cleveland Guardians vs St. Louis Cardinals
- Release Date
- 04/15/2026 11:38 AM
- Event Date
- 04/15/2026 01:20 PM
- Bet Type
- Over / Under
- Pick
-
Cleveland Guardians vs St. Louis Cardinals Over 9 (-115)
(BetMGM)
- Outcome
- Loss
- Analysis
- The over case starts with the pitching matchup, because neither starter has been especially trustworthy early. Cleveland is set to start Slade Cecconi, who enters 0-2 with a 5.74 ERA, while St. Louis is expected to counter with Dustin May, who comes in 1-2 with a 9.45 ERA and 1.80 WHIP. When one side is sending out a starter with an ERA pushing double digits and the other is also sitting well above 5.00, it is easy to see traffic on the bases and scoring chances building early and carrying into the middle innings.
There is also plenty of recent evidence that both lineups can contribute. Cleveland beat St. Louis 9-3 on Monday, then Tuesday’s game still got to 11 total runs in a 6-5 Cardinals win in 10 innings. In other words, the first two games of this series have produced 12 and 11 runs, so this matchup has already shown a back-and-forth scoring profile rather than a low-scoring series trend.
The Cardinals bring real power into this game as well. Reuters noted Monday that Jordan Walker hit his league-leading eighth home run and entered that game batting .333 with 15 RBIs and 46 total bases. On Tuesday, J.J. Wetherholt went off with two home runs and three RBIs in the comeback win. That gives St. Louis multiple bats swinging well enough to take advantage of a vulnerable pitcher like Cecconi.
Cleveland has shown enough pop of its own to help push this over. The Guardians scored nine runs Monday, then still put up five on Tudesday, with Jose Ramirez and Daniel Schneemann homering in dthe second game. With Cleveland averaging seven runs per game through the first two games of the series, they do not need St. Louis to do all the work for an over to cash.
Put it all together and the over makes sense: shaky starter stats on both sides, a Cardinals pitcher in May who has been hit hard, and two offenses that have already combined for 23 runs in the first two games of the series. That is a strong recipe for the Guardians-Cardinals game to go over the total on Wednesday, April 15.
Jim's Play: 923. Guardians/Cardinals OVER