Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Cleveland Guardians Prediction 7-17-23 MLB Picks

The Cleveland Guardians and the Pittsburgh Pirates meet in MLB interleague action from PNC Park on Monday. Let’s dive into the odds, starting pitching matchup, history and make a prediction for this game.

Odds

Cleveland is listed as a -130 road favorite while Pittsburgh is a +110 home underdog. The total for this game is set at 9.5 runs.

Starting Pitching Matchup

Cleveland will start Xzavion Curry here and he is 3-0 with a 3.04 ERA and 32 strikeouts this season. Quinn Priester will make his major league debut for the Pirates here and he was 7-3 with a 4.31 ERA and 84 strikeouts in AAA this season. 

Matchup History

These two teams last met on June 20th, 2021, in a game that ended up being a 2-1 win for the Cleveland Guardians. 

Trends

Cleveland is 1-4 in their last 5 games overall and 2-5 in their last 7 road games while the over is 4-2 in their last 6 road games. Pittsburgh is 1-7 in their last 8 games overall and 0-5 in their last 5 home games while the over is 6-1 in their last 7 home games. 

Pick

I’m backing the under here. I just can’t trust the offense on either side to be overly consistent coming into this game, and there’s a level of mystery on both sides in terms of starting pitching with Curry looking like he’s starting for Cleveland and Priester starting for Pittsburgh. I just think this one is just an ugly game from the opening pitch so give me the under here.