Guardians vs. White Sox prediction, odds, pick, how to watch

The second half of the MLB season rages on as the Cleveland Guardians battle things out with the Chicago White Sox for an intense AL Central division battle. Join us for our MLB odds series where our Guardians-White Sox prediction and pick will be revealed.

Entering play on Friday, the Cleveland Guardians remain only 1.5 games out of the division lead despite possessing a slightly average 52-51 record on the season. The club is currently on a three-game winning streak, including a 6-3 victory over the White Sox on Thursday. Getting the start for game two of this series will be reliever Xzavion Curry, who has been extremely dependable up to this point with a 3-0 record and a 2.98 ERA in 26 overall appearances on the year.

On the other side of things, the Chicago White Sox are well out of contention in the final days of July and are simply playing for pride, with the hopes of possibly putting it all together next season. Truly, it has been a disappointing campaign- to say the least- for the White Sox, but they'll at least try to even up this series with the Guardians by calling upon another reliever in righty Touki Toussaint, who is 0-3 with a 4.06 ERA.

Here are the Guardians-White Sox MLB odds,

MLB Odds: Guardians-White Sox Odds

Cleveland Guardians: -1.5 (+112)

Chicago White Sox: +1.5 (-134)

Over: 10 (-112)

Under: 10 (-108)

How To Watch Guardians vs. White Sox

TV: Apple TV

Stream: MLB TV

Time: 7:10 ET/4:10 PT

*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why The Guardians Could Cover The Spread

In the Guardians' 6-3 victory over the White Sox not even 24 hours ago, the main element that Cleveland took advantage of was the fact that they jumped on the White Sox early and often, while not spending any time looking back. After leading Chicago by a score of 4-0 in the top half of the fourth inning, Cleveland's effective pitching from the bump made sure that there was no comeback by Chicago in sight. Alas, another strong outing that includes the Guardians getting hot early and closing the door late will prove to be critical.

Most importantly, the Guardians have been able to rely on their splendid pitching prowess this season, a factor that might be the most dangerous part about them. With their offense sputtering out more often than they would like this summer, the arms of this pitching staff have tossed their way to the seventh-best team ERA in the majors with a 3.84 mark, while also showcasing their ability to pitch deep into games with a total of 38 quality starts to their resume.

Even though the Guardians have managed to score 19 runs over the course of their three-game winning streak, it is their dominant pitching that has kept them alive in a tight division race- and will also be mainly responsible for covering the spread later this evening.

Why The White Sox Could Cover The Spread

On paper, the White Sox' woes stick out more than a sore thumb, but the club does happen to hold a 4-3 regular season series lead over the Guardians in 2023.

Even though you could make the argument that Chicago has been downright awful throughout the majority of this season, there are still reasons to believe that the White Sox can cover the spread and even get back in the win column.

For starters, the best chance that the ‘Sox have at feeling good about themselves and avenging their 6-3 loss on Thursday is to ride the wave of their superstar centerfielder in Luis Robert Jr. Already having taken part in this year's Home Run Derby, Robert Jr. has been on an absolute tear this season and is tied with the third-most home runs in all of baseball with 28. Whenever a squad possesses the type of talent that Robert Jr. has under his belt, there is always a chance that the tone will be set with one swing of the bat.

While Robert Jr's elite batsmanship is something to behold, it will be all for naught if righty Touki Toussaint isn't sharp from the pitching mound. Even though Toussaint has solid numbers from the naked eye, his lone start against the Guardians saw himself get absolutely shelled for seven runs on six hits in only 1 1/3 of an inning back in 2019. Still, White Sox bettors and fans can only hope that the three-year difference proves to be valuable for Toussaint in his second career start against Cleveland.

Final Guardians-White Sox Prediction & Pick

Without a doubt, this game matters a whole lot more to the Guardians, who are smack dab in the middle of a postseason race. Alas, these are games that Cleveland cannot afford to lose, and because of that, the expectation should be the Guardians to take care of business before kicking off the weekend.

Final Guardians-White Sox Prediction & Pick: Guardians -1.5 (+112)