Chicago Cubs vs Cleveland Guardians

Cleveland is back on track following a rough stretch in early August, and the Guardians won their fourth in a row 2-1 over the Cubs on Tuesday night, and the game easily went UNDER. Jhonkensy Noel hit a solo homer in the sixth for the winning run. Jameson Taillon gave up five runs on nine hits in five innings against the White Sox on Friday, although the Cubs pulled out a 7-6 win. The Cubs are 1-6 in Taillon's past seven starts against a team that scored two or fewer runs in its previous game, and the Guardians have won their past four interleague games as favorites of -110 to -150. Alex Cobb will make his second season start for Cleveland after being acquired from San Francisco and recovering from left hip surgery. The UNDER is 7-1 in Taillon's past eight starts versus opponents that scored two or fewer runs their previous game, and Cleveland is 6-1 UNDER in Game 3 of a series. Take the Guardians and the UNDER as a Max Play.

The Cleveland Guardians hold the lead in the AL Central, but both Minnesota, and Kansas City are still in reach. It is still not widely known that the Guardians are not playing the way they did early in the season. They are 69-49 on the season, but over their last 41 games they have been 18-23. The Cubs were left for dead in terms of reaching the playoffs, but hold on. The Cubs are one of the hottest teams in baseball right now. The Cubs are 8-2 in their last 10 games, and they have a top shelf pitcher on the mound tonight in Shota Imanga, as the Cubs are an impressive 17-4 when Imanga takes the mound. Imanga and his bullpen held opponents to four or fewer runs in 17 of his 21 starts. I like the Chicago Cubs in tis one.

Cleveland has a losing road record and plays its fifth straight road game after getting blasted by the Cubs yesterday, 10-1. The offense is 27th in runs scored, 22nd in on-base percentage, and 26th in slugging. Starter Tanner Bibee has a 5.68 ERA on the road where batters are hitting over .300 off him. The Guardians are 9-16 in interleague games, 10-18 after playing three straight road contests, plus 6-13 versus NL teams with an on-base percentage of .325 or less. Chicago plays its fifth straight home game with an offense that is ninth in on-base percentage and a pitching staff that is 11th in ERA. Marcus Stroman (2.47 ERA) takes the mound with a 2.25 ERA at Wrigley Field this season and the Cubs have won seven of his last eight starts. Play Chicago.