Yesterday, the Cleveland Guardians took care of business at home against the dreadful Oakland Athletics and now just need to take two more to sweep the series and maximize this opportunity to play the worst team in baseball.
Game 2 of this three-game set will feature Paul Blackburn on the mound for Oakland against 2021 first-round pick Gavin Williams who is set to debut for Cleveland. Blackburn has a 3.48 ERA in four starts for the A's this year.
The 34-38 Guardians are favorites with Williams debuting on the mound against 19-56 Oakland. Let's take a look at those odds.
Athletics vs. Guardians odds, run line and total
Athletics vs. Guardians prediction and pick
It took the Guardians 10 innings to finally put away the Athletics yesterday and things will be a little bit tougher in this matchup with Blackburn on the mound for Oakland. He has been good for the A's since joining the rotation at the end of May. He's gone 11.2 innings across his last two starts with only two earned runs allowed and 14 strikeouts to just two walks. I think he will have a strong outing against the Guardians who have been unimpressive offensively as of late.
It's hard to know what to expect from a rookie making his debut. However, we know what to expect from Oakland's lineup no matter who they're facing on the mound. In the past seven days they are 29th in runs scored with just 10 and an abysmal .548 OPS.
Oakland has lost six in a row heading into this matchup, and they've done that because of their horrendous hitting. There is better value taking the under than just betting against Oakland tonight, so I'll go that way.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change
