Guardians vs Pirates Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for July 17 (Cleveland Extends Pittsburgh's Home Struggles)

The Cleveland Guardians (45-48) and Pittsburgh Pirates (41-52) both desperately need a win when they collide at PNC Park on Monday, July 17.

Guardians vs Pirates Game Info

• Date: Monday, July 17, 2023
• Time: 7:05 p.m. ET
• Venue: PNC Park -- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Coverage: MLB.TV

The Guardians came up short for the fourth game in a row Sunday, falling 6-5 to the Texas Rangers. On the other side, the Pirates lost for the seventh time in their last eight games with an 8-4 extra-innings loss to the San Francisco Giants yesterday.

Guardians vs Pirates Odds & Spread

• All MLB betting lines, odds, and prop bets are from FanDuel Sportsbook.
• Moneyline: CLE: (-130) | PIT: (+110)
• Spread: CLE: -1.5 (+126) | PIT: +1.5 (-150)
• Total: 9 -- Over: (-115) | Under: (-105)

The Guardians enter this contest as road favorites on the moneyline and spread per FanDuel Sportsbook's odds. This 7:05 p.m. ET clash also features an over/under of 9 runs with the Over being favored at -115 odds.

Guardians vs Pirates Betting Trends

• Cleveland is 2-5 straight up (SU) in its last seven road games.
• Pittsburgh is 3-7 SU in its last 10 games against Cleveland.
• The total has hit the Under in six of Cleveland's last seven games on a Monday.
• The total has hit the Over in four of Pittsburgh's last six games against the American League.

Guardians vs Pirates Prediction & Pick

The pressure is on tonight as Pirates top prospect Quinn Priester makes his first-ever MLB start. The 22-year-old right-handed hurler has spent the 2023 campaign with Triple-A Indianapolis, going 7-3 with a 4.13 ERA and 84 strikeouts over 87 2/3 innings.

Meanwhile, the Guardians hope for another strong start out of Xzavion Curry. He's been working out of the bullpen thus far, but will now be making his first start since the 2022 season. Curry has looked great on the mound up to this point, tallying a 3-0 record and 3.04 ERA through 23 relief appearances.

In other words, the Guardians have a clear-cut pitching advantage. Even playing at home won't help the Pirates, who are 0-5 SU with a minus-2.8 average run margin in their last five outings at PNC Park. Making matters worse is that Pittsburgh has also lost four of its previous six home matchups against Cleveland.

With the Guardians being 6.5 games back of the final AL wild-card spot, I expect an elevated effort to get the job done. The Pirates are playing some of their worst baseball of the season at the moment (which is saying something), offering the Guardians the perfect opportunity to get their season back on track.

Final Score Prediction: Guardians: 5 | Pirates: 2

Guardians vs Pirates Best Bet

I'm taking the Guardians to cover the spread as the best bet tonight. On top of getting outscored by a sizeable margin at home lately, the Pirates are also relying on Priester to keep things close in his MLB debut. While he might be a reliable starter one day, he may also crack under unfamiliar pressure.

The Guardians are due to bounce back and I won't be shocked if they use this game to make a statement.

Bet: Guardians -1.5 (+126)

Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.