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The St. Louis Cardinals have fallen out of first place in the NL Central Division thanks to a five-game losing streak. The Cards likely won’t be turning things around Tuesday night when they face the Cleveland Guardians and reigning AL Cy Young winner Shane Bieber in interleague action. The Indians are favored on the MLB odds.

How to Bet Indians at Cardinals MLB Odds & TV Info

When: Tuesday, 8:15 PM ET
Where: Busch Stadium
Probable pitchers (away/home): Shane Bieber/Carlos Martinez
TV: MLB Extra Innings

Why Bet on Cleveland? | Betting Odds for MLB

The Indians will not have the designated hitter available for this series. They had Monday off and it came at a good time as Cleveland was destroyed 18-5 in Baltimore on Sunday. Bobby Bradley was a bright spot as he was 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and three RBI. The 25-year-old was recalled from Triple-A Columbus on Saturday. Bradley has gotten off to a hot start to begin his big-league career, as he now has three extra-base hits in his first two games. The 24-year-old could claim the starting job at first base going forward.

Amed Rosario also went yard in the loss, his fourth dinger of the season. The shortstop has recorded hits in seven of the last eight games and has gone 8-for-29 with two home runs, seven runs and six RBI during that time.

Closer Emmanuel Clase has thrown 180 of 396 pitches (45.5%) at 100+ MPH this season, most in the Majors ahead of the Mets’ Jacob deGrom (121 pitches). Clase leads the league in average cutter velocity (100.1 MPH) and 4-seamer velocity (100.4 MPH).

It’s reigning AL Cy Young winner Shane Bieber on the mound here. Bieber (6-3) earned the win last Tuesday against the White Sox after allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits with seven strikeouts and two walks across seven innings.

Chicago scored all three runs in the third inning, when Billy Hamilton hit a two-run double and ultimately came around to score thanks to a pair of errors. Otherwise, it was another strong performance from Bieber, who now has a 3.08 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 117:29 K:BB over 79 innings this season.

“He had kind of a weird line,” said manager Terry Francona. “He basically gave up all the runs on one swing. He yanked a fastball to Billy Hamilton over the middle of the plate. That was the damage. As he got into the game, he had some quick innings and we turned two double plays that got him back into the game.”

Bieber, 26, is making $679,700 in his final season as a pre-arbitration-eligible player this year. He’ll have a chance to break Dallas Keuchel’s record $7.25 million salary for a first-time arbitration-eligible pitcher after the season. Bieber has made one career start against the Cardinals, allowing one run in six innings with five Ks.

Why Bet on St. Louis? | Betting Odds for MLB

The Cards have lost five in a row, shockingly swept four games at home over the weekend by the Cincinnati Reds. It was their first four-game sweep at St. Louis since May 4-7, 1990. The Cards have lost five straight for the first time since Aug. 3-7, 2018. St. Louis has lost seven of its last eight overall.

One bright spot Sunday: Nolan Arenado went 4-for-4 with a double, one run scored, two RBI, and a walk. The 30-year-old third baseman has seven hits in his last two games and is slashing .287/.333/.522 with 11 homers and 40 RBI over 249 plate appearances. That’s a strong bounce-back effort considering he entered the weekend on a woeful 1-for-22 stretch.

Future Hall of Fame catcher Yadier Molina was held out of the lineup after taking a foul ball off his left knee Saturday. “He feels better,” St. Louis manager Mike Shildt said. “It doesn’t look like an IL situation.” Infielder Paul DeJong continues a rehab stint at Triple-A Memphis. He is working his way back from a left rib fracture and has not played on the major league level since May 12.

It’s Carlos Martinez (3-5) on the mound. Martinez was bombed for 10 runs on six hits and four walks with one strikeout over 2/3 of an inning in a loss against the Dodgers last Wednesday. It was probably the worst performance by any pitcher this season. He only threw pitches yet allowed 10 runs! He left with just two outs and the bases loaded before Jake Woodford allowed all inherited runners to score on a grand slam by Cody Bellinger. Martinez had tossed quality starts in six of his last seven outings to bring a 4.22 ERA into this contest. He now has a 5.83 ERA.

Martinez will make his 2nd career appearance/start against the Tribe, and his first since 6/26/18 when he was credited with an 11-2 win at Busch Stadium. That game featured a 5 hit, 2-HR performance from Matt Carpenter, as the Cardinals pounced on Corey Kluber. Martinez is 5-7 with a 3.14 ERA in 29 career games (16 starts) in interleague play, but hasn’t had a win since his start vs. Cleveland in 2018. He is 3-5, 4.13 ERA in 14 career games (10 starts) vs. AL Central teams.