Boston Red Sox vs. Cleveland Guardians Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 6/25/2022

Time: 6:10 p.m. ET

Venue: Progressive Field, Cleveland, OH

Where to watch: NESN, Bally Sports Great Lakes

DraftKings: Check back later

BetMGM: Check back later

Caesars: Check back later

Red Sox: 39-31

Guardians: 36-29

Imagine if the Boston Red Sox had pitching. Strike that, because they do. Imagine if they had healthy pitching. Then look at that batting order and tell me they wouldn't be the favorites to win the World Series any other given year. Sure, we have to take the New York Yankees into account, and the Dodgers, Braves, Mets, etc. But holy crap, who wants to face that lineup right now?

You look at the top three hitters of that group and see Xander Bogaerts being a contact machine. You look further down and see Rafael Devers, an MVP candidate last year and looking like one this year batting .328 at 25 years old. And then there's the ageless J.D. Martinez batting .326 and never showing any signs of slowing down.

Imagine in a perfect world, where Trevor Story turned back the clock a bit and hit a baseball for not just power. 

But as we sit here 70 games into the season, the Red Sox are where they are; third place in the AL East, trailing the Toronto Blue Jays and powerhouse Yankees. They're not catching the Bronx Bombers any time soon. That much is certain. But should things continue to fall into place, Boston should be challenging for a wild card spot and could make some noise, just as much as they did in getting to the ALCS last year.

"To be able to put pressure in different ways, not only in the batter's box, is good to see," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.

And that's really the key to dissecting if the Red Sox are ready to make that next leap this year. But it might just be a matter of health. Chris Sale is hurt, though his rehab is improving. James Paxton might be ready for bullpen sessions soon. Nathan Eovaldi's back isn't healing the way the Red Sox want him to, and suddenly it's likely he'll be on the IL longer.

In the mean time, the Red Sox must resort to out-hitting every team in their path. Fortunately for them, going into this weekend's series against the Cleveland Guardians, the Red Sox are on the right side of things. They've won six straight series', including their recent three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers, and have rebounded nicely to be eight games above .500.

But trying to out-hit teams who have good pitching can be problematic. And that's what will present to the Red Sox this weekend. The Guardians have made a run to first place in the AL Central behind their pitching, led by Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie and Cal Quantrill. Bieber will get the call on Saturday against Josh Winckowski.

That's why it's important for Story to get going. He leads the Red Sox with 48 RBI and has turned on the power over the last number of weeks. He's still batting .223, and he needs to be the all-around star the Red Sox are paying him to be.

“It’s a stat that I have taken a lot of pride in in the past,” said Story. “I feel like people are kind of losing the love for it out there in the analytic world. But it’s something, playing alongside [Nolan] Arenado and seeing the way he did it for so many years, driving in 100, that was something that I strived to do. I’ve done it before, and it’s something that means a lot to me. I like coming through in those spots.”

If he can raise that average to anything above .250, that'll be more than what Boston could hope for. In due time. But now, the Sox are back and playing well. What happens in the second half will be something.

The Guardians are playing well, but this has all the thoughts of the Red Sox winning on Saturday. I wouldn't be too shocked at them taking two. It'll be tough with a more engaged crowd, but you can't turn away the momentum Boston is on right now. Red Sox win 6-3

Red Sox are 34-14 in June the past three seasons.

Guardians are 15-5 during the month of June.

Guardians are 74-65 at home the past three seasons.

Red Sox:
Jarren Duran (L) CF
Rob Refsnyder (R) RF
J.D. Martinez (R) DH
Xander Bogaerts (R) SS
Alex Verdugo (L) LF
Trevor Story (R) 2B
Christian Vazquez (R) C
Bobby Dalbec (R) 1B
Jeter Downs (R) 3B
SP - Josh Winckowski

Guardians:
Steven Kwan (L) LF
Amed Rosario (R) SS
Jose Ramirez (S) 3B
Josh Naylor (L) DH
Oscar Gonzalez (R) RF
Andres Gimenez (L) 2B
Owen Miller (R) 1B
Austin Hedges (R) C
Myles Straw (R) CF
SP - Shane Bieber

Batting average: Xander Bogaerts -- .335

Home runs: Rafael Devers -- 16

RBI: Trevor Story -- 48

Wins: Nick Pivetta -- 7

ERA: Nick Pivetta -- 3.31

Batting average: Jose Ramirez -- .301

Home runs: Jose Ramirez -- 16

RBI: Jose Ramirez -- 62

Wins: Triston McKenzie -- 4

ERA: Shane Bieber -- 3.00