Cleveland, OH

Cleveland Guardians vs. Los Angeles Dodgers prediction, pick for Monday 3/30/26

Published

2 months ago

March 31, 2026

Cleveland Guardians vs. Los Angeles Dodgers prediction, pick for Monday 3/30/26

Keagan Smith gives you a preview, prediction and pick for today’s game between the Cleveland Guardians and Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday’s MLB slate.

The opening days of the 2026 MLB season have been an absolute blast to watch, and as we roll into the second week of action on the diamond, there are plenty of games for fans and bettors alike to choose from.

On Monday night in the late window, the Cleveland Guardians (2-2) head to Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers (3-0). It’s a story of David vs. Goliath that certainly favors one team over the other given the nature of both lineups and their respective payrolls, but the beauty of this sport is that anything can happen on any given night.

Come fight the Monday blues with us! Here’s a betting prediction and pick for tonight’s Guardians vs. Dodgers matchup courtesy of MLB odds and lines on DraftKings Sportsbook.

Guardians vs. Dodgers prediction, preview

The Guardians made the postseason in 2025 with a surge over the second half of the campaign, and now they look to get back to the playoffs once again. They split the opening series of 2026 2-2 with the Seattle Mariners, and while an ugly 8-0 shutout did ruin the vibes to close things out, there were a couple of positives to glean. The biggest storyline by far was Chase DeLauter, the 24-year-old who debuted last postseason and has now started his first regular season by going 6-for-17 with four home runs. He’s been at the center of the production for a lineup with 13 runs in its four matchups, with the team slashing a combined .195/.262/.338. The biggest weakness of the Guardians thus far? A 32.4% K% that ranks third worst in the MLB, but obviously, it’s very early. Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan are bound to get rolling eventually though, so there’s no reason to panic while the bats heat up. The pitching staff has more reason to worry though, giving up eight home runs in four games with a high K% at 28.6%, but also an elevated BB% at 13.6%. Not a great way to start the year, now is it?

Out in the National League, the Dodgers went a perfect 3-0 to open their own season after taking all three games over the Arizona Diamondbacks. That was expected given the massive payroll of the back-to-back World Series champs, especially after adding Kyle Tucker to their embarrassment of riches over the offseason. They’re scoring over five runs a game through the first three outings with a slash line of .222/.320/.422, but the interesting part is a .200 ISO that ranks fifth in the MLB after hammering five deep balls along with a league-high hard-hit rate of 46.7%. The Dodgers are driving the baseball already, which doesn’t come as a shock to anyone. However, an 0.73 K/BB ratio ranks third best in the sport and is a little more surprising. Oh, and did we mention that Shohei Ohtani is just 1-for-8 at the plate to start the season? The pitching staff holds a 2.67 ERA that ranks sixth to go along with the fourth-best WHIP at 0.89 and the second-lowest BB% at just 5.0%. Los Angeles is scary so far.

On the mound for Cleveland is lefty Parker Messick, who threw just seven starts in his debut campaign last season. He amassed an impressive 2.72 ERA with a 1.31 WHIP, punching out 38 hitters in 39.2 innings. While he didn’t qualify for most grades per Baseball Savant’s advanced metrics due to sample size, he would’ve been in very high percentiles for BB%, barrel rate, hard-hit rate and more.

The Dodgers will roll out righty Roki Sasaki, who threw just 10 games for Los Angeles last season with eight starts. He ended with a 4.46 ERA and 1.43 WHIP, striking out 28 hitters in 36.1 innings of work. it was a pretty uninspiring result, all things considered, but he brings nice velocity with a 96.1 MPH average on the fastball. He had some serious command issues in Spring Training though, which we’ll work with for out best bet.

Guardians vs. Dodgers pick, best bet

DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Dodgers as -199 Moneyline favorites at home this evening, while the Guardians hold +163 odds to win outright. The run total sits at an even nine.

Best Bet: Roki Sasaki over 1.5 walks allowed (-174)

The odds probably won’t do much for you at -174 unless you use this pick as a builder in a parlay, but there’s a ton of reason to feel bullish about a cash tonight. Sasaki allowed 15 walks in Spring Training. Now guess how many innings he pitched. Don’t look it up! No, it wasn’t 15-20 as you probably expected. It was 8.2. Again, he gave up 15 walks in 8.2 innings of work. The recent form is capital B Bad. You get it, but for the record, he had a 13.7% BB% last season as well. Command is not his strong suit.

Strong Lean: CLE Guardians +1.5 (-126)

Maybe things get dangerous for Cleveland with a young pitcher out there against such a star-studded lineup, but Los Angeles’ hurler isn’t particularly formidable. After the Guardians competed with the Mariners in their last series with two wins and a cover at +1.5, I like their chances to keep things feisty this evening on the road.

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Cleveland, OH

Yankees Take Another in Cleveland

Published

1 hour ago

June 10, 2026

Press Room

The Cleveland Guardians fell to the New York Yankees, again, tonight. Dropping game two in this series gives New York the series win and puts the Guardians five games above .500.

Slade Cecconi had a strong outing and is looking like he is hitting a groove. Cecconi went 5.0 innings, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks. He struck out two batters.

The Guardians scored 2 runs on 10 hits and 4 walks. Both runs came in the bottom of the third inning.

With two quick outs to start the inning, José Ramírez hit a single to center, then reached second on his 24th stolen base of the season. Chase DeLuter singled to center, scoring José from second. Kyle Manzardo drew a walk and Rhys Hoskins was hit by pitch to load them up. Angel Martínez singled to Paul Goldschmidt at first base who made a diving catch. Goldschmidt lobbed the ball to the pitcher with just enough arch that Angel was able to slide into first and beat out the tag.

In the top of the fourth, Travis Bazzana made a great sliding catch to end the inning.

The Guards bullpen did their best to hold it down, all things considering. Colin Holderman walked a batter in his inning of work. Tim Herrin gave up a run in his second inning of work, a solo shot to Jazz Chisolm Jr. He fell to 0-2 on the season, recording the loss. The home run was the only hit he allowed. Matt Festa finished the eighth inning, allowing only one other hit. Shawn Armstrong closed the game, keeping the Yankees at bay, but the damage was already done

This team is going through a funk that seems like it could be easily fixed with a couple of pieces or strategic moves. Tonight they left 13 runners on base and were 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position. While the hot start to this season is providing the buffer they need for these sorts of slumps, something needs to improve soon or the White Sox will be taking ahold of first place in the AL Central before we know it.

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Cleveland, OH

New York Yankees vs. Cleveland Guardians prediction, pick for Tuesday 6/9/26

Published

11 hours ago

June 9, 2026

Press Room

New York Yankees vs. Cleveland Guardians prediction, pick for Tuesday 6/9/26

Bryan Armetta offers up a preview, prediction and pick for Tuesday’s MLB game between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians.

It took ten innings, but the Yankees (39-26) eked out a 7-5 win on Tuesday. New York is in a dead heat with the rival Rays for first place in the AL East. As for the Guardians (37-31), winning the lackluster AL Central isn’t their biggest challenge. Cleveland is hoping to prove it can take down the Junior Circuit’s best squads. A victory tonight over the hated Pinstripes would go a long way tonight.

The Yankees are favorites (-123) over the Guardians, with the over/under set at 8.5 runs. Below, I’ve laid out my preview, prediction, and best bet for Tuesday’s showdown between New York and Cleveland on DraftKings Sportsbook.

Yankees vs. Guardians pick, best bet

Yankees vs. Guardians under 8.5 runs (-103): Cole is too good of a pitcher to get beat by the same squad twice in one week. It’s not as if Cleveland’s bats come into this one on a hot streak either. As for Cecconi, continued use of the curveball will be key this evening. He’s already shown an ability to keep New York’s potent lineup in check.

Yankees vs. Guardians prediction, preview

New York was dealt a significant blow last week with the loss of Aaron Judge (ribs). Fortunately, there’s more than enough offensive firepower on this squad going forward. The duo of Ben Rice (184 wRC+) and Cody Bellinger (138 wRC+) have been terrific this season for the Bronx Bombers. As a unit, the Yankees are averaging an American League-best 5.09 runs per game. To boot, they lead all of baseball with 95 home runs. No matter how you slice it, this team can swing the bat with the best of them.

That makes this a tricky spot for Slade Cecconi this evening. The right-hander has produced a mediocre 4.92 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 54 strikeouts (7.2 K/9). With that being said, the 27-year-old is fresh off of a six-inning, one-run outing against New York. The outing saw Cecconi mix in more curveball usage, arguably his most effective pitch. Over his last five starts, the right-hander has accounted for a 3.04 ERA. Yankees batters are slashing .167/.211/.328 against the curveball this season. Cecconi excels at limiting free passes (2.8 BB/9). New York’s offense works 4.26 walks per game, third-most in the majors.

On the other side, it’ll be Gerrit Cole toeing the slab. Over three starts this season, the former Cy Young winner owns a 2.00 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 14 strikeouts (7.0 K/9). He gave up four earned runs over 5.1 innings last week vs. Cleveland. Still, there’s a decent chance the six-time All-Star enjoys more success tonight. The Guardians own a .678 OPS against right-handed pitching, fifth-worst in the league. In his last six meetings with Cleveland, postseason included, Cole has a 3.03 ERA.

The newest weapon in Cole’s arsenal is a changeup, which he’s thrown 16% of the time. Other off-speed weapons include the slider (16%) and curveball (12%). Against those three offerings, the Guardians own a .197 batting average, .267 on-base percentage and .267 wOBA. The team has also scored 37 runs over their previous ten contests, fifth-fewest in baseball during that stretch. Cleveland is averaging 4.03 runs per game at home, seventh-worst in the league this season.

Best Bet: Yankees vs. Guardians under 8.5 runs (-103)

Last week aside, Cole has been terrific this season. I’d expect New York’s ace to bounce back against a subpar Cleveland lineup. As for the Guardians, Cecconi is finally starting to get comfortable on the mound. Facing a Yankees lineup without Judge should lead to another decent performance on Tuesday. At 8.5 runs, this total feels a bit too high.