The Cleveland Guardians will conclude their battle with the Tampa Bay Rays in the final of a three-game series Sunday afternoon in Tampa Bay. With that said, it’s a good time to check out our MLB odds series, which includes our Guardians-Rays prediction and pick we have laid out below.

Cleveland is 51-49, second in the AL Central, just two games behind the Minnesota Twins. In the first two games of this series, Cleveland split with Tampa Bay. In the middle of playoff contention, Cleveland may be buying more talent in the next couple of days.

Tampa Bay is in third in the AL East at 54-47 but still holds the final Wild Card spot. In addition to the playoff implication in this series, this could also affect the trade deadline. Depending on the outcome of this game, one or both of these teams may become more motivated to be buyers.

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

MLB Odds: Guardians-Rays Odds

Cleveland Guardians: +1.5 (-110)

Tampa Bay Rays: -1.5 (-110)

Over: 6.5 (-120)

Under: 6.5 (-102)

Why The Guardians Could Cover The Spread

Cleveland's pitching staff is the strength of this club, with a 3.90 ERA ranking 14th in the league. Opening Sunday's game is veteran Bryan Shaw, who made his first career start last time out. Shaw has a 5.45 ERA, including two runs surrendered in his 2.1 inning open against Boston five days ago. Shaw will not be long for this one, but the Cleveland bullpen behind him is fantastic. Cleveland's bullpen ranks ninth in baseball with an impressive 3.53 ERA across 329 innings. Eli Morgan has starting experience and has pitched more than an inning in 14 of his 30 appearances. Also recalled recently was lefty Kirk McCarty, who has struggled to a 6.75 ERA in his 16 innings.

Offensively, Cleveland will be without Josh Naylor (14 home runs) and Owen Miller (22 doubles) for the time being. Naylor was pulled from Saturday night's game with ankle soreness, and Miller was scratched from the lineup this morning. Still, as long as Jose Ramirez is in the lineup, Cleveland has a chance to win a ballgame. Ramirez went 2-5 last game, raising his average to .289, with 21 home runs, 34 doubles, and more walks than strikeouts. Andres Gimenez (.299 average, 12 home runs) and Steven Kwan (.296 average, more walks than strikeouts) are in line with Cleveland's high contact organizational strength.

Why The Rays Could Cover The Spread

Tampa Bay, one of the better teams in baseball the past decade, is sitting directly in playoff contention. Sunday afternoon, Shane McClanahan will take the ball, boasting a sparkling 1.76 ERA with a 11.8 K/9 rate. Even more impressive is McClanahan's ability to constantly lower his ERA. In his last seven starts, McClanahan has a 1.59 ERA and 0.64 WHIP. These are actually better than video game numbers. Just as dominant as McClanahan, Tampa Bay's bullpen ranks seventh in baseball with a 3.46 ERA across 429.2 innings, the highest total in the league. While this is slightly inflated by Tampa Bay's use of openers and followers, there is no doubting the dominance of this bullpen.

Offensively, a middling offense will be boosted by the addition of David Peralta. Peralta's .248 average is accompanied by 12 home runs, and he has been scorching hot in his last seven games with a .421 average. Yandy Diaz has walked 53 times against just 40 strikeouts and has doubled 21 times, second on the team behind Randy Arozarena's 22. Tampa Bay has also stolen 61 bases this season.

Final Guardians-Rays Prediction & Pick

McClanahan is one of the best pitchers in baseball. No sense in doubting him.

Final Guardians-Rays Prediction & Pick: Rays -1.5 (-110), under 6.5 (-102)