Guardians vs. Red Sox: Picks, predictions, how to watch Monday’s game

The Cleveland Guardians and Boston Red Sox square off on Monday with first pitch set for 7:10 p.m. ET. The game takes place at Fenway Park in Boston, MA and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. The Sox will send Nick Pivetta to the hill and the Guardians will hand the ball to Zach Plesac.

The Red Sox have had probably the worst possible start to the second half as any team could possibly imagine. They’re winless in their first three games back and have been outscored 40-10 in that span. The closest game since the break was decided by three runs, so still not particularly close. Dating back to before the break, Boston has lost five straight and nine of their last 10. Struggling is an understatement for this club at the moment.

Cleveland has lost two of their first three since the break, but those losses were by a combined three runs so it’s not like they’re getting blown out day in and day out. The Guardians have won six of their last 10 games dating back to before the Midsummer Classic as well. Plesac has struggled this season if you look at stats, but most of that has to do with his run support as he boasts an ERA of barely over 4.00. Not incredible, but not worthy of a 2-7 record either.

Guardians vs. Red Sox

Pitchers: Zach Plesac vs. Nick Pivetta
First pitch: 7:10 p.m. EST
Red Sox local broadcast: NESN
Guardians local broadcast: Bally Sports Great Lakes
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)

Odds, picks & predictions

Run Line: Guardians -1.5
Run total: 9.5
Moneyline odds: Guardians -110, Red Sox -110

Moneyline pick: Guardians -110

There’s not a ton of confidence that Cleveland will go ahead and light up the scoreboard on any given night, but with how the Red Sox are playing recently, we like them to grab a win in Fenway today.

Player prop pick: Nick Pivetta under 4.5 strikeouts (-135)

The Guardians strike out less than any team in baseball, averaging just over 6 Ks per game. Pavetta isn’t a big strikeout guy either, eclipsing four K’s in just three of his last seven games.

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