The Cleveland Guardians take on the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the ALDS. Cal Quantrill is the starter for the Guardians, while Gerrit Cole will take the mound for the Yankees. The first pitch is slated for 7:37 ET. Below we continue our MLB odds series with a Guardians-Yankees prediction and pick.

Righty Cal Quantrill will make his 33rd start of the season on Tuesday. The workhorse put together his most successful season to date as he set career highs in wins, innings pitched, and strikeouts. For the season, Quantrill went 15-5 with a 3.38 ERA. His 15 wins paced the Guardians pitching staff. Quantrill had an up-and-down start to the season but came on strong after the All-Star break. He's gone 4-0 in his last five starts to the tune of a crisp .262 ERA. In his lone start against the Yankees this season, Quantrill did not record a decision – allowing 3 runs over 6 1/3 innings pitched in a Guardians loss back in April.

Long-time starter Gerrit Cole will kick off the postseason for the Yankees. Cole has struggled somewhat by his standards as he finished the regular season with his highest ERA since 2017. However, that isn't to say he's been ineffective. On the contrary, Cole had a solid regular season – going 13-8 with a 3.50 ERA. He led the MLB in strikeouts with 257 (the third-highest mark of his career). When making a Guardians-Yankees prediction it's important to note how effective Cole was against Cleveland during the regular season. In two regular-season starts, Cole went 2-0 while only giving up 2 runs in 12 2/3 innings. The veteran is no stranger to the postseason, either. Although he struggled in his lone postseason start last year, he's been stellar throughout his career. In 86 postseason innings Cole has gone 8-5 with an ERA of 2.93. He's struck out 111 hitters in those innings.

Here are the Guardians-Yankees MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Guardians-Yankees Odds

Cleveland Guardians: +1.5 (-128)

New York Yankees: -1.5 (+106)

Over: 7 (+100)

Under: 7 (-122)

Why The Guardians Could Cover The Spread

The Guardians were the American League's cinderella team. Largely picked to finish outside the top two in the AL Central, Cleveland finished the season on a torrid pace. Cleveland went 24-6 to finish the season and take the division. They swept the Rays in the Wild Card series thanks to a 15-inning barn burner they pulled out 1-0.

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The Guardians were one of the best defensive teams in baseball this season. They finished 6th in the MLB in team ERA and were Fangraph's 5th-rated defensive team. Game 1 starter Cal Quantrill has been solid this season and their bullpen is electric. Closer Emmanuel Close led the MLB in saves with 42 but the bullpen as a whole has been borderline unhittable. In the second half of the season, the Guardians bullpen led the entire league in ERA.

While the Guardians may not hit a lot of home runs (29th in the league), they make up for it with a solid .254-team batting average. Cleveland strikes out at the lowest mark in the league but eventually, you need someone to come up with big hits. That's where superstar third baseman Jose Ramirez comes in. Ramirez had yet another great season for the Guardians. The thirty-year-old hit .280 with 29 home runs and 126 RBIs (3rd in the MLB). Ramirez played the hero in game 1 of the Wild Card series after a crucial 2-run homerun that put the Guardians up for good. Ramirez has seen starter Gerrit Cole 22 times throughout his career. He's batted just .273 with 2 home runs in those at-bats.

Why The Yankees Could Cover The Spread

The Yankees finished as the second-best team in the American League if by no other reason than having sure-fire MVP Aaron Judge in right field. Plenty has been written about Judge's 2022 season but it's worth repeating that Judge hit 62 home runs this season. 62! He did that while beating his career high in batting average by nearly .25 points.

Judge alone could propel the Yankees to a victory in game 1 after we just watched the Guardians score just 3 runs in their series win over Tampa Bay. However, if Judge continues to struggle against starter Cal Quantrill (0-5 lifetime) other Yankees will need to step up. Enter Josh Donaldson. Granted, Donaldson struggled this season… mightily. The third baseman had his lowest batting average since his rookie season in 2010 but he gets a favorable matchup in game one. Donaldson has hit Quantrill well in limited action. In 17 career at-bats against the Guardians starter, Donaldson has batted .412 and hit two home runs. Someone is going to have to step up and help Judge carry the load and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see the thirty-six-year-old be that guy.

Final Guardians-Yankees Prediction & Pick

The Yankees have quietly struggled in the second half of the season while the Guardians are red hot. With New York being off for nearly a week now, I expect Cleveland to keep this within a run.

Final Guardians-Yankees Prediction & Pick: Cleveland Guardians +1.5 (-128)