Bibee, Guardians Favored In Opener With Giants
Giants vs Guardians Runline Favors the Guardians In a Rare Trip

Plenty of Young Stars Have Tempting Player Props In this Series
The San Francisco Giants are just three games out of a playoff spot after winning seven of the last 10 games. Can that trend continue against the American League-leading Cleveland Guardians? The Giants vs Guardians runline favors host Cleveland in the series opener.
The Giants won a pair of one-run games when the teams met three times late in the 2023 season. San Francisco has won 13 of the last 15 games with Cleveland and that included all three games in Cleveland in 2022.

When looking at the odds for today’s MLB games the Guardians are priced at -165 to win the series opener with San Francisco at +140 to win its first game in Cleveland since 2008. Cleveland is priced at -180 to win the series.
Even though the Guardians have moved ahead of the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees in the American League standings, Cleveland is just fourth among American League teams with +1800 odds of winning the World Series. San Francisco’s championship odds have moved from +4000 to +10000 since the start of the season.
Giants vs Guardians 
Day/Time:
Location: Progressive Field, Cleveland, OH
Streaming: NBC Sports Bay Area, Bally Sports Great Lakes, MLB Network
Giants vs Guardians Probable Starting Pitchers
- Friday: TBA (Giants); Tanner Bibee (Guardians)
- Saturday: Kyle Harrison (Giants); Logan Allen (Guardians)
- Sunday: Hayden Birdsong (Giants); Carlos Carrasco (Guardians)
Young Pitchers Getting A Chance to Shine
If you love to see young starting pitchers firing away this could be the series for you.
Even with the Giants yet to announce a starter for Friday’s series opener, there are at least starting pitchers aged 25 or younger expected to get the call in the three games. Perhaps that will play a role in the Giants vs Guardians runline numbers in this series.
A pair of 22-year-olds will go for the Giants beginning on Sunday with lefty Kyle Harrison set to pitch for the first time since June 10 as he has worked his way back from an ankle injury. In the series finale, Hayden Birdsong is set to make his third career start. Birdsong picked up his first career win the last time out when he allowed two runs in five innings against the Atlanta Braves.
Tanner Bibee and Logan Allen, a pair of 25-year-olds who are a combined 15-6 this season, will pitch in the first two games for Cleveland.
Carlos Carrasco, a 37-year-old with 271 career MLB starts, isn’t going to let the kids have all the fun as he is expected to pitch the series finale for Cleveland.
The total has gone over in 13 of San Francisco’s last 20 games.
Check Out A Couple of Productive Outfielders in the Prop Picks
There is an MLB stat leader taking center stage in the series.
Cleveland outfielder Steven Kwan missed 26 games earlier this season and only recently had enough plate appearances to be listed among the qualified hitters.
Kwan’s .367 is easily the top mark in the majors with his closest challenger being Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals.
Kwan was flirting with .400 last month before a 7-for-40 stretch knocked his average down to .360. He is coming off a three-hit game in a win over the Chicago White Sox. Keep that in mind when looking at the Giants vs Guardians runline.
San Francisco has a budding star of its own.
Despite not joining the team until May 8, Heliot Ramos is tied for the team lead with 12 home runs. He has homered in two of his first three games in July.
Five of Cleveland’s last six games went over the MLB scores and odds total.
Who’s Hot?
- Matt Chapman, San Francisco Giants 3B: Chapman is 14-for-38 with eight extra-base hits, seven runs, and 12 RBIs in his last 10 games.
- Hunter Gaddis, Cleveland Guardians P: Gaddis hasn’t allowed a run in his last 12 appearances. He has allowed three hits and struck out 16 in 11 innings during that stretch.
- Josh Naylor, Cleveland Guardians 1B: Naylor is 7-for-17 with four runs, three doubles, and five RBIs in his last five games.
- Ryan Walker, San Francisco Giants P: Walker has surrendered two hits and no runs with 12 strikeouts in 7.2 innings in his last seven outings.
Who’s Not?
- Nick Ahmed, San Francisco Giants SS: Ahmed is 0-for-10 with three strikeouts over his last three games.
- Logan Allen, Cleveland Guardians P: Allen has allowed 15 hits, three home runs, and nine runs in 7.1 innings in his last two starts.
- David Fry, Cleveland Guardians OF: Fry is 0-for-9 with four strikeouts in his last four games.
- Landon Roupp, San Francisco Giants P: Roupp has given up 11 hits and 10 runs with seven walks issued over his last 7.2 innings.
Giants vs Guardians Injury Update
Infielders Thairo Estrada and Wilmer Flores are out while outfielder Mike Yastrzemski is questionable for San Francisco. Tristan Beck, Alex Cobb, Robbie Ray, and Blake Snell are among the pitchers for the Giants on the injured list.
Pitchers James Karinchak and Trevor Stephan as well as outfielder Will Brennan are out for Cleveland.
Giants vs Guardians Betting Update
The Giants and Guardians played just five series from 2005 to 2021, but they are starting to get more familiar with each other with this being the third season in a row that the teams will meet in a three-game set.
Four of the previous six games have been decided by either one or two runs
Cleveland is 28-10 at home and 33-15 as a favorite so the Giants (19-23 as an underdog and 18-26 on the road) have their work cut out for them.
The Guardians are 18-16 against the run line as the home favorite while San Francisco looks to build on an 18-12 record versus the run line as the road underdog.
San Francisco has seen 27 of its 44 road games land over the total with the total at 8.5 for the series opener.
One of the many differences between the teams in the standings is that Cleveland is 19-5 when facing a left-handed starter while San Francisco is 10-17 against lefty starters.
Keep an eye on the weather as there is a 24% chance of rain for Friday’s series opener.
Cleveland has won eight of the last 10 games started by Bibee and looks to continue that trend as the weekend series gets going on Friday.
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