The Cleveland Guardians staging a second-half surge is nothing new after that incredible rally for the AL Central title a season ago. They are surging at the right time of the year yet again ahead of a series opener in Anaheim tonight against the Angels, who are yet again only playing for pride in late-August. It looks to be a pitchers’ duel between rookies with a 9:38 ET first pitch.
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This game should have a little more meaning to Guardians manager Stephen Vogt and his guys, as they can get to .500 for the first time since Aug. 4 with a victory. Remember, last year they were down 15.5 games in the AL Central in July and still won it. The Guardians have two routes to the 2026 postseason — via the division title or a wild card spot. The SportsLine Projection Model gives them a 44.4% shot at the playoffs overall.
The Guardians completed a three-game sweep in Denver on Sunday without star third baseman Jose Ramirez. He’s healthy but was simply given a rest day. Jo Adell went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI. The outfielder was acquired from the Angels at the trade deadline early this month for catching prospect Jacob Cozart, who has yet to make his big-league debut.
Adell has been energized with his new club, batting .258 with four homers and 17 RBI in 17 games. Cleveland’s four-game winning streak is the team’s longest since it also won four in a row from July 9-12. Perhaps sitting Sunday exempts Ramirez from the “Coors Hangover.”
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Guardians-Angels MLB same-game parlay
- Los Angeles alt +2.5
- Under 1.5 first-inning runs
- Alt Under 9.5
DraftKings SGP price: +128 (may change)
I haven’t quite mastered ChatGPT yet to find exact numbers, but I promise you visiting teams at Coors Field who finish a series there and have to play in another city 24 hours later do not fare well overall in that latter game. That’s where the Guardians are; it’s not really a thing if reported team had a day off to acclimate to the new city.
Detroit Tigers shortstop Kevin McGonigle is going to win AL Rookie of the Year and is the -600 favorite, but Guardians lefty Parker Messick (+1800) could finish as high as second in the voting – the top three should all come from the AL Central, with White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami (+500) also in there.
Messick (9-8) is among big-league leaders in ERA (2.54) and WHIP (1.03), but you would be down $44 if you wagered $100 on Cleveland to win each of his 25 starts (team is 13-12). Messick only gets an average of 3.32 runs per nine innings per start, seventh-fewest among MLB qualified starters. The 25-year-old has allowed two earned or fewer in eight straight outings but has only two wins personally in that stretch.
Messick beat the visiting Angels on May 13 with one of his 15 quality starts, allowing two runs and four hits over 6.2 innings of a victory. Zach Neto was 2-for-2 with a homer against Messick. The model has him at 6.7 innings, 6.6 strikeouts, 4.3 hits allowed and 1.6 earned runs.
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One bright spot of another dismal Angels season has been right-hander George Klassen (2-1, 3.74 ERA), who ranks as the franchise’s No. 12 overall prospect with the best fastball grade in the organization of 70 on a scale of 20-80.
This will be the 24-year-old’s sixth big-league start and his last was his best, throwing seven shutout innings with a hit allowed in a victory at Houston. Klassen allowed two runners to reach in the first inning and admitted to having “jelly” legs but got out of that and dominated after. Klassen became the first Angels rookie to go seven innings and allow one hit or fewer since Reid Detmers threw a no-hitter on May 10, 2022 against the Rays.
“That was some of the best stuff we’ve seen all year,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki reported to the media about Klassen. “Attacking with his fastball and pretty nasty sliders, but I think it was more commanding the zone, getting ahead and really just on the attack. He didn’t make it too complicated, knew what he did best and went after them.”
Klassen was shaky in two April starts and sent back down. In three since returning to the Show, he’s 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA and 15 strikeouts across 17 innings. While Klassen has a stellar fastball, it sets up his slider. Batters are hitting just .103 against the pitch, which has generated 49.2% whiff rate. This will be the first time the Guardians have seen Klassen.
The model has him at 4.9 innings, 4.7 strikeouts, 4.5 hits allowed and 2.3 earned runs, and Cleveland by a score of 4.3-3.6. That works just fine here as long as no crazy first inning. Check out other expert picks in the SportsLine daily newsletter.
