AL Wild Card Odds: Rays-Guardians prediction, odds and pick

Tampa Bay Rays and the Cleveland Guardians are playing a best-of-3 playoff series on Saturday. Tyler Glasnow will take the mound for the Rays. Triston McKenzie will start for Cleveland. The Rays went 86-76 during the season, while the Guardians won the AL Central and went 7-2 over their final 10 games. The teams have to win their respective series to advance to the next round.

The Rays are the seventh-best team in defensive efficiency and sixth in defense. Their pitching is strong, with the fourth-highest ERA in baseball. The team's offense is not so good, as they rank 17th in batting average, 20th on-base percentage, 21st in runs, 25th with home runs and 24th slugging percentage.

Randy Arozarena is the Rays' best bat. He is batting .263 with 20 home runs, 89 RBIs, and 72 runs. A rozarnena struggled against the Guardians this year. However, he has playoff experience and he is hitting .354 (34 for 96) with 11 home hits, 17 RBI, 23 runs in the playoffs.

The Guardians won the AL Central title. Jose Ramirez is the best player in the team. Steven Kwon led the batting average, Myles Straw was elite on the basepaths, and Josh Naylor can win a game anytime. The team needs to produce to generate a victory and a possible trip to Yankee Stadium. The Guardians will cover the spread if McKenzie can toss a good game.

The Rays match up well with the Guardians. The Rays could steal a game and go to the Bronx for a showdown with Yankees.