Rays vs Guardians American League Championship Series Predictions & Best Bets

It took them until Saturday night to do it, but the Cleveland Guardians have punched their ticket to the American League Championship Series to face the Tampa Bay Rays. There won’t be much turnaround time for the Guardians, as the action kicks off tomorrow (Monday). Here’s who’s going to win the series, and how you can make money on it.

Rays vs Guardians American League Championship Series Predictions & Best Bets

#2 Cleveland Guardians vs #1 Tampa Bay Rays

Game 1: Monday, 8:00 PM ET @ Tampa Bay

Game 2: Tuesday, 8:00 PM ET @ Tampa Bay

Game 3: Thursday, 6:00 PM ET @ Cleveland

Game 4: Friday, 6:00 PM ET @ Cleveland

Game 5: Saturday, TBD ET @ Cleveland (if necessary)

Game 6: Monday, TBD ET @ Tampa Bay (if necessary)

Game 7: Tuesday, TBD ET @ Tampa Bay (if necessary)

Both League Championship Series have gone the way of the chalk this season, with #1 vs #2 both in the National League and the American League. In the AL, #1 would be the 98-win Tampa Bay Rays, and the runner-up being the 85-win Cleveland Guardians (although the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox both won more games than Cleveland this season).

Regardless of who wins this series, the chances are it’ll be a low-scoring affair. In the six meetings between Tampa and Cleveland this season (which the Rays won 5-1, outscoring the Guardians 20-8), the teams combined for just over 4.6 runs per game. Neither team scores a bunch of runs or hits a bunch of homers, so small ball and pitching will rule the day.

Which could be bad news for the visitors. Cleveland enters this series with basically no rest, so they can’t set their starting pitching rotation as they’d like. Plus, the Guardians’ pitching staff relies on strikeouts, K’ing the third most batters in the majors this season, which is a problem since Tampa whiffs the least in the majors.

All signs point to the Rays returning to the World Series for the first time since 2020. The Guardians do have the momentum on their side, surging to overtake the Chicago White Sox in the regular season, capturing the American League Central Division title in the process, and then winning three straight with their backs against the wall against the same Sox in the postseason. But the Rays aren’t the White Sox: this is a superior team here, a team that is better than the Guardians everywhere. Plus, they are rested and have the home field advantage.

Despite not many home runs expected in this series, some will be hit, and I like to bet on who will hit the most. Cleveland stalwart Jose Ramirez has heated up after having one of his worst regular seasons to date, hitting homers in back-to-back games entering this series. He’s my pick.

Best Bets: Tampa Bay to win series (-165); Jose Ramirez to lead series in homers (+800)