The Red Sox host the Guardians for an AL battle! It's time to continue our MLB odds series with a Guardians-Red Sox prediction and pick.
The Cleveland Guardians are coming off of a series split against the Chicago White Sox but lost the series' final two games. They will look to get back on track against a struggling Red Sox team. They lost Game 1 last night so now the White Sox are just 0.5 games back of Cleveland in the AL Central. Last night's score was 3-1 as it was a pitching duel between Zach Plesac and Nick Pivetta. Both of these squads are fighting for a playoff spot so the next few games of this series are crucial.
Here are the Guardians-Red Sox MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Guardians-Red Sox Odds
Cleveland Guardians: +1.5 (-156)
Boston Red Sox: -1.5 (+130)
Over: 10 (-118)
Under: 10 (-104)
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Why The Guardians Could Cover The Spread
The pitching matchups in this game will be the complete opposite of last night's contest. Right-hander Bryan Shaw will start for the Guardians as they will showcase a bullpen day for Game 2 of the series. Shaw has a 5.29 ERA in 34 innings this season. He allowed two earned runs against the White Sox in his last outing.
As for the offense, this is a unit that is slowly starting to come together. This lineup has a bunch of pure contact hitters such as Andres Gimenez, Steven Kwan, Adam Rosario, and Owen Miller. The balance of power and contact from Jose Ramirez proves that if this lineup is facing a struggling pitcher, they can smash a lot of hits and score a lot of runs. They will be facing a starter who hasn't pitched since July 13 and has given up nine runs in his last two starts. This is a great time for the Cleveland bats to get hot.
Why The Red Sox Could Cover The Spread
Josh Winckowski is coming off the covid-19 list to start this game after missing two weeks of action. He is (3-4) with a 4.38 ERA in 37 innings this season. Winckowski is not a strikeout pitcher as he only has 26 in 37 innings, so he relies on his defense to help with his success. The right-hander is facing a solid hitting lineup and will need to be on his game if they want a chance to cover this spread.
If this squad is smart, they wear those Nike City Connect uniforms for the rest of the season. They are (6-0) so far when wearing the bright yellow. This team has had a rough month of July. They were serious contenders before the month and now seem a ways out of making series contention. The defense needs to seriously improve because they were just flat-out embarrassing over that span. The offense is fine, we all know they can score runs with ease. However, if they want to get back in the race they need to stop committing errors on a regular basis.
Final Guardians-Red Sox Prediction & Pick
The Red Sos spread seems to be the right call in this matchup. FanDuel predicts it will be a high-scoring affair with a bullpen day for the Guardians and I think the Red Sox win two in a row at home against the Guardians. This game is crucial for both sides.
Final Guardians-Red Sox Prediction & Pick: Red Sox -1.5 (+130)
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