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Rangers vs. Guardians Game 2 Prediction and Odds for Tuesday, June 7 (Two Bets With Value)

By Joe Summers

Konnor Pilkington earned his first career win last week against the Royals
Konnor Pilkington earned his first career win last week against the Royals / Ron Schwane/GettyImages
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The Cleveland Guardians host the Texas Rangers in a double-header today after poor weather yesterday. Iain MacMillan has you covered with a preview for the first game, so I'll tackle the second (scheduled for 6:45 PM EST) here.

Konnor Pilkington will make his fourth start of the year for Cleveland after earning his first major league victory with five scoreless innings against the Royals last week. He has a 2.65 ERA on the year and seems to be getting more comfortable with each outing.

Texas will counter with Taylor Hearn, who has been among the worst starters in MLB. Hearn has a 7.24 ERA on the road and walked four batters in only four innings against Tampa Bay in his last outing.

Can Hearn regain his command to give the Rangers just their second win in six games? Or will Pilkington build off his first win to notch a second straight?

Let's check out the odds from WynnBET Sportsbook as we analyze this Rangers vs Guardians Game 2 matchup:

Rangers vs Guardians Odds, Run Line and Total

Run Line:

  • Rangers +1.5 (-180)
  • Guardians -1.5 (+150)

Moneyline:

  • Rangers: +131
  • Guardians: -141

Total:

  • 9.0 (Over -105/Under -115)

Rangers vs Guardians Prediction and Pick

The Guardians have won five of six and are right back in the AL Central race. Admittedly, their competition wasn't exactly stiff with a pair of series against Baltimore and Kansas City, but I'm encouraged by their lineup. It's finally heating up to give a great pitching staff and elite defense some support.

Cleveland's bats should stay hot against Taylor Hearn today. His 6.13 expected ERA is the second-worst among all qualified pitchers and he's been even worse on the road. The Rangers' bullpen has been a disaster lately as well, so Hearn won't have strong support if he gets into trouble. The T in Taylor might as well stand for "trouble" - just look at his MLB Statcast Pitching Profile:

Oof. While the Rangers hit left-handed pitchers well, so do the Guardians. And I have more faith in Cleveland's bullpen and defense than I do Texas'.

I like the value on the Guardians to stay hot, but there's also a valuable trend I can't ignore. In the Rangers' last 11 as a road underdog, the under is 9-0-2. It's 5-1 in Cleveland's last six as a home favorite as well, so data from both sides supports an under play.

Despite Texas' solid performance against left-handed pitchers, I think Pilkington and the Guardians' bullpen shut them down. Give me Cleveland on the run line as they scratch some runs across the board on Hearn but keep the game low-scoring overall.

Pick: Guardians -1.5 (+150) and Under 9.0 (-115)

Follow all of Joe Summers' betting picks here.

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