Cleveland Guardians look to even divisional series as Chicago White Sox cling to AL Central lead

Over the years, baseball has been one of the best sports for me to bet on. It isn’t always the most glamorous, because most people don’t watch every or any baseball games. Football is still king when it comes to watching and watch parties, but there are some great opportunities to make money betting on baseball. I think I’ve found one of those opportunities here as the White Sox take on the Guardians.

The Chicago White Sox still lead the American League Central. I can’t believe that I just wrote that sentence in the middle of September. This has been a fun team to watch after the disastrous few seasons. They are a young team that probably doesn’t even realize they shouldn’t be in these situations yet. However, it is great experience, and if they do make it to the postseason, they may even get a bye in the first round given how the setup is for the postseason.

They still need to get past the Guardians, though. In an effort to take the series for the White Sox, Davis Martin is taking the ball. Martin was great in the early portion of the season, but hasn’t pitched very well over the past few months. Through May, his ERA was 2.00. Through June, it was at 3.00, which was still very respectable. At the end of July, he was at 3.62, and August ended at 4.32. He has been solid in September, going 10.2 innings, allowing just nine hits, one earned run, and four strikeouts. He has faced Cleveland twice and allowed three earned runs over 4.1 innings of work against them.

The Cleveland Guardians are reminding me a lot of last season. If you recall, this team was basically asleep until August. Then, coupled with an all-time collapse from the Tigers, they turned it on and racked up the wins. They stole the AL Central last year. This season, the White Sox never had the distance between them that Detroit had last year. However, the Guardians never could find a way to stay consistently ahead of the White Sox.

Steven Kwan #38 of the Cleveland Guardians doubles in the ninth inning during the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Tonight their goal is to get the game they lost last night back from their divisional foes. They do it with an arm they added at the trade deadline, Foster Griffin. 

This has been a strong year for Griffin. He has gone 15-5 this season with a 3.65 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. It hasn’t been all rainbows and sunshine since he came to the Guardians. He has allowed 22 earned runs in 33.1 innings of work. However, 13 of those runs came in 6.1 innings of work. He dominated the White Sox this year when he was with the Nationals, going seven innings, allowing two hits and no earned runs.

The Cleveland Guardians had no further comment on ESPN’s report about the investigation and suspension. (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)

This is the last series between the two clubs, and the White Sox are ahead of the Guardians 7-4 so far this year. However, tonight should make that a bit closer for the Guardians. Griffin on the mound gives them a great opportunity to win the game. Martin has been good for the White Sox, and he has pitched better lately, but it seems like the Guardians know what they are doing against him. Give me the Guardians on the run line at +144 today.

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