Cleveland rides a four-game win streak into a smoke-delayed twin bill, and Pittsburgh's rolling right there with it — Saturday's second game at Progressive Field pits two teams playing their best baseball of the summer.
Bush’s Picks
PITCLE
PITCLE
OverUnder
Best BetGuardians
Cleveland's playing its best baseball of the year and gets the fresher, hotter arm in Cantillo, who's coming off a dominant strikeout outing. Pittsburgh's kept pace despite losing key everyday players, which says a lot about their depth, but backing the team riding real first-half momentum into a nightcap at home is the safer read.
Pirates
+Won 3 of last 4, playing above .500 pace
+Ashcraft emerging as a legit front-line arm
−Griffin out 8-10 weeks, Cruz still not back
−Rodriguez and Horwitz also out of lineup
Guardians
+Won 4 straight to close first half, tied atop AL Central
+Cantillo striking out hitters in bunches lately
−Jose Ramirez still not cleared for live pitching
−Angel Martinez also out with a foot fracture
This one's the nightcap of a doubleheader that only exists because of a scheduling headache — Friday's game got postponed for air quality, pushing everything into a Saturday split. Braxton Ashcraft gets the ball for Pittsburgh, and he's been the best story in that rotation lately: an 8-of-9 decision stretch and a sub-3.50 ERA since mid-June. Joey Cantillo counters for Cleveland fresh off a 9-strikeout, 1-run gem against Miami that capped a first-half sweep.
Ashcraft's last time out against Milwaukee wasn't his cleanest — 5 runs allowed over 5 innings with no decision — but it came after a run where he'd won 4 straight starts. Cantillo, meanwhile, has been dealing all July, striking out double digits in back-to-back-ish outings and pushing his record to 8-4. Both guys miss bats; neither one's afraid to work into trouble and pitch out of it.
Show fees
7:10 PM ET
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PIT Pirates
CLE Guardians
Pittsburgh limps into Cleveland banged up at premium spots. Konnor Griffin's done for 8-10 weeks with a torn tendon in his ring finger, Oneil Cruz is still working his way back from a fractured hand, and Endy Rodriguez and Spencer Horwitz are both out too. That's the shortstop of the future, the athletic centerfielder, and two everyday bats all sidelined at once — yet the Pirates have somehow won 3 of their last 4 and are within a game of .500 anyway.
Pittsburgh Pirates
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Cleveland Guardians
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Cleveland's dealing with its own absences — Jose Ramirez still isn't full-go off his hand injury and Angel Martinez is working back from a foot fracture — but the Guardians have papered over it well. They swept Miami to close the first half and enter the second half tied atop the AL Central, riding the kind of form that makes a two-game losing streak feel like a crisis.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Jul 17?@ Guardians—
Cleveland Guardians
Jul 17?vs Pirates—
Recent form.
Both clubs are hovering right around .500 with roughly identical records, which says less about parity and more about how weird this season's been for each of them — the Pirates surviving an injury bug that would sink most teams, the Guardians finding their groove right as the calendar flips to the stretch run. A getaway-day doubleheader nightcap isn't usually appointment viewing, but with both starters trending up, this one's got some juice.
