MLB ALDS Best Bets Today: Expert Picks & Predictions – Pressure on Guardians against White Sox

Following a day off, the pair of ALDS matchups will resume with Game 2s on Monday. It’s White Sox vs Guardians and Yankees vs Rays. 

Here are my best bets, and also make sure to check out our MLB picks for predictions throughout the 2026 playoffs.  

Chicago White Sox ML over Cleveland Guardians (+132)  

The pressure is all on Cleveland after it lost the series opener 3-0 on Saturday. Losing each of the first two games at home would be a disaster, but that’s exactly what might happen. The Guardians’ bats looked rusty on the heels of a first-round bye, and now they have to face a pitcher who has owned them this season. Chicago’s Anthony Kay made four regular-season appearances against Cleveland and compiled a 1.35 ERA. 

It will be Gavin Williams toeing the rubber for the home side. Williams is no slouch, but he has not been great against the Sox this year (3.98 ERA in four outings). Munetaka Murakami is 1-for-5 with a blast; Miguel Vargas is 6-for-14 with a dinger; Andrew Benintendi is 5-for-13 with a double and two walks. The bottom line is that the White Sox are hot and playing loose. Don’t be surprised if they keep the momentum going. 

New York Yankees ML over Tampa Bay Rays (-130) 

Tampa Bay crossed the plate a single time in Game 1. Asking the home team to score more than that on Monday may be too much given that New York is handing the ball to Cam Schlittler. The right-hander went 14-6 with a 1.95 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 239 strikeouts in 193.2 regular-season innings. He then hurled 6.1 innings of shutout baseball with 10 strikeouts and only one walk in a 9-0 victory over the Red Sox in the wild-card series opener.  

The Rays are countering with Freddy Peralta. He has been good of late, but he struggles with plenty of guys in the Yankees’ lineup. Cody Bellinger is 6-for-14 all time against Peralta with a homer and a double. Ben Rice is 2-for-5 with a homer. Anthony Volpe is 2-for-4 with a homer and a double. Austin Wells is 1-for-2 with a homer. Paul Goldschmidt is 9-for-35 with two homers and five doubles. Look for the Bronx Bombers to bounce back with enough offense behind Schlittler in Game 2.