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It is interleague baseball to start the week as the Cleveland Guardians visit the Pittsburgh Pirates. It is time to continue our MLB odds series with a Guardians-Pirates prediction, pick, and how to watch.
For the Guardians, the second half of the season did not start as planned. They were swept over the weekend by the Texas Rangers and struggled at the plate and pitching. At the plate, the Guardians managed to score just nine runs in three games. They were also shut out once in the process. Pitching, they gave up 20 runs in three games. Now, the Guardians since at 45-48 on the season, and are 2.5 games back of the Twins in the division. They have lost four straight games and just four on their last ten overall.
It was a similar weekend for the Pirates, as they were swept by the Giants over the weekend. Like the Guardians, the Pirates scored just nine runs in three games, while they gave up 17 runs. The Pirates had a good chance to avoid the sweep over the weekend, as they went up 1-0 early, and the game in the eighth inning to force extra innings. Yerry De Los Santos gave up four of the five runs in the tenth though, and the Pirates fell 8-4. Pittsburgh fell to 41-52 on the season, 10.5 games back of Milwaukee. This has led to them calling up top prospects to get a view of what they have in the farm system.
Here are the Guardians-Pirates MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Guardians-Pirates Odds
Cleveland Guardians: -1.5 (+118)
Pittsburgh Pirates: +1.5 (-142)
Over: 9.5 (+100)
Under: 9.5 (-122)
How To Watch Guardians vs. Pirates
TV: BSGL/ATTP
Stream: MLB.TV
Time: 7:05 PM ET/ 4:05 PM PT
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Guardians Could Cover The Spread
Over the weekend, the offense did not produce for the Guardians, and it has been a theme for them all year long. Cleveland is averaging just 4.03 runs per game this year and sits 27th in the majors in runs scored this year. Meanwhile, are 16th in batting average, 21st in on-base percentage, and 27th in slugging.
Over the weekend, Bo and Josh Naylor became just the fourth set of brothers to hit a home run for the same team in the same inning. They join Hank and Tommie Arron who did it once, and Billy and Cal Ripken, and BJ and Justin Upton who both did it twice. Josh Naylor has been leading the way for them this year. He leads the team in batting average at .308 on the season, while leading the team in RBIs with 66. So far in July, Naylor has hit .395 with two home runs, eight RBIs, and six runs scored.
Brother Bo has not had the same success this month, but still been solid. On the month he has hit just .261, but has an OBP of .320. He has two doubles, a home run, and five RBIs this month while scoring three times. Joining the Naylor brothers in a solid month has been Steven Kwan. This month he is hitting .327 with five RBIs and a home run. Kwan has also doubled four times and scored six this month.
Still, there are some major struggles on the team. Over the weekend, Amed Rosario hit just .071 without driving in a run. Jose Ramirez is just .152 without an RBI. Myles Straw hit .182 without an RBI. Those are three of the biggest bats in the lineup that went silent over the weekend.
The Guardians will be sending Xzavion Curry to the mound for the start today. This will be just his second career start. This season out of the bullpen he has been solid. He has pitched 47.1 innings and has a 3.04 ERA with three wins. In his two career starts, he has pitched 9.1 innings with a 5.79 ERA and an 0-1 record.
Why The Pirates Could Cover The Spread
Like the Guardians, the Pirate's offense struggled as well over the weekend. They average 4.17 runs per game and sit 26th in the majors in total run production. They are also 21st in batting average, 20th in on-base percentage, and 25th in slugging percentage. The Pirates are led on offense by Jack Suwinski. He has 19 home runs this year with 48 RBIs while hitting .226. Heading into the series over the weekend, he had been batting over .300 for the mount, but he went 0-9 in the two games he played with two strikeouts. He still has driven in ten runs this month with the help of three home runs.
Ji-Man Choi has been hitting better as of late. He came back to the lineup on July 7th after last playing on April 13th. Choi has hit .263 since coming back, with two home runs and four RBIs. He has been striking out consistently though, striking out once in all but one game this month. Conner Joe has also been hot as of late as well. He is hitting .364 on the month with a .500 on-base percentage. Joe does not have an RBI though, and has only one extra base hit, which is a double. He has scored three times tough.
Like the Guardians, some of the top bats are coming off a rough weekend. Andre McCutchen was hitting just .200 in the series before being injured. As noted early, Jack Suwinski did not have a hit in the series. Nick Gonzales hit just .083 without an RBI or run scored. Bryan Reynolds drove in a run and scored, but hit just .250 and struck out three times.
It will be Quinn Priester on the mount today for the Pirates. Priester is making his major league debut in this game. This year in AAA he went 7-1 with a 4.31 ERA. He was able to limit home runs and struck out almost a batter per inning in his time there.
Final Guardians-Pirates Prediction & Pick
While both teams struggled over the weekend, there are a few major differences. First, the Guardians played a better team. The Rangers are one of the best teams in baseball, and while the Giants are good, they are not as good. Second, the Guardians have shown signs of life on offense in the last month, whereas the Pirates have done that rarely. Third, the Pirates are moving towards playing young guys. Neither team has a big pitching edge in this one, but the Guardians are the better team. Pick the Guardians to win over the Pirates in this one.
Final Guardians-Pirates Prediction & Pick: Guardians -1.5 (+118)
