The Cleveland Guardians and Los Angeles Angels clash Friday in game 2 of an MLB series at Angel Stadium. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.

Cleveland Guardians Betting Preview

The Guardians need a win after losing 4 of their last 5 games. The Guardians are 6.5 games back in the AL Central. The Guardians pitching staff is 8th in ERA (3.96), 18th in WHIP (1.30) and 13th in quality starts (50). The Guardians’ offense is 28th in runs per game (4.04), 16th in batting average (.249) and 30th in homers (106). Steven Kwan leads the Guardians with 152 hits and 48 RBI, while Jose Ramirez and Andres Gimenez have combined for 258 hits and 122 RBI. Logan Allen gets the ball, and he is 6-7 with a 3.77 ERA and 107 strikeouts this season. This will be Allen’s second career game against the Angels.

Cleveland Guardians Team Facts

• The Guardians have lost each of their last seven games against AL West opponents.
• The Guardians have failed to cover the run line in each of their last eight night games against AL West opponents.
• The Guardians have trailed after 7 innings in three of their last four games as favorites against American League opponents.
• The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Guardians’ last six night games against AL West opponents.
• The Guardians have trailed after 3 innings in four of their last six games as favorites against American League opponents.

Los Angeles Angels Betting Preview

The Angels need a win after losing 9 of their last 11 games. The Angels are 12.5 games back in the AL wild card race. The Angels pitching staff is 23rd in ERA (4.72), 25th in WHIP (1.42) and 19th in quality starts (44). The Angels’ offense is 13th in runs per game (4.68), 15th in batting average (.252) and 4th in homers (201). Shohei Ohtani leads the Angels with 151 hits and 95 RBI, while Brandon Drury and Luis Rengifo have combined for 211 hits and 118 RBI. Griffin Canning gets the ball, and he is 7-5 with a 4.30 ERA and 117 strikeouts this season. This will be Canning’s first career game against the Guardians.

Los Angeles Angels Team Facts

• The Angels have won each of their last four games as home underdogs against AL Central opponents.
• The Angels have failed to cover the run line in each of their last six games against American League opponents following a win.
• The Angels have led after 5 innings in four of their last six games as underdogs against AL Central opponents.
• The Angels have led after 7 innings in four of their last six games as underdogs against AL Central opponents.
• The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Angels’ last six night games.

Matchup/League Facts

• The Los Angeles Angels ranks 28th in the league for walks allowed this season (549).
• The Los Angeles Angels ranks T4th in the league for home runs this season (201).
• The Cleveland Guardians ranks 30th in the league for home runs this season (106).
• The Cleveland Guardians ranks 29th in the league for RBI’s this season (533).

Randy’s Pick

I’m not running to the window to back either of these slumping teams, but the Guardians are at least trying to win games and are still somewhat in a division race if they can get their crap together. The Angels gave up the season a while ago as their two best players are hurt, and they allowed a few guys to just leave their team. Also, Logan Allen has been a bright spot for the Guardians with a 3.77 ERA and 1.35 WHIP as a rookie, and he has a 3.51 ERA on the road. The Guardians should win this game, but nothing would shock me with either side.