Rays vs. Guardians Game 1 Prediction and Odds for AL Wild Card (Can Guardians Fix Issues vs. Lefties, McClanahan?)

If you want to have your future child start an MLB playoff game then you might want to name them Shane. Maybe even consider changing it if he's too young to recognize it!

On Friday at 12:07 p.m. ET, Shane McClanahan and Shane Bieber both take the mound Friday in Cleveland, as the Guardians host the Tampa Bay Rays for Game 1 of their best-of-three wild card series in the American League. 

It’s the first year of this new playoff format aside from the bizarre 60-game 2020 season and Tampa Bay has an uphill climb with all three games in Cleveland. 

Here are the latest odds for Game 1:

Rays vs. Guardians Odds, Run Line and Total

Rays vs. Guardians Prediction and Pick

The only start Shane Bieber has made in the postseason did not go well. He faced the Yankees in 2020 and gave up seven earned runs in 4.2 innings. 2020 was his AL Cy Young campaign and he didn’t quite reach that level this season, but he was pretty close. Bieber finished the year with a 2.88 ERA with 198 strikeouts in exactly 200 innings pitched. He was excellent 

I don't expect Bieber to struggle again like he did two years ago in the postseason, but Cleveland's offense could struggle facing McClanahan tonight. Not only did he finish the year with 2.54 ERA and 194 strikeouts in just 166.1 innings, but he is the worst thing Cleveland could ever face: a lefty. It's like the Guardians are back in time and view all southpaws as witches!

The Guardians won 92 games this year and yet they have the third worst OPS against left-handed pitching in the MLB, the least home runs with 26, and the second least runs scored. They also ranked fourth-worst in baseball in weighted-runs-created-plus (wRC+).

If the left-handed thing doesn't scare this young Cleveland lineup enough then just wait until McClanahan snaps off a slider that has a 46.4% whiff rate this season.

PICK: Rays +104

Follow all Josh Yourish’s bets HERE