Cleveland Guardians vs Los Angeles Dodgers Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 04/01/26

It was a bit of a surprising first start of the season for Cleveland Guardians starter Gavin Williams. Following a breakout 2025 season in which he posted a 3.06 ERA and 1.26 WHIP, showing dominant stuff at times and an ability to control the strike zone, Williams struggled against the Arizona Diamondbacks in his first start, recording 6 walks. He made up for it by allowing just two hits, which led to three earned runs, but his lack of control left something to be desired. The question left to answer is whether it was first start jitters or a sign of a deeper issue. I’m inclined to believe he’ll find a way to bounce back, even if it’s against the mighty Dodgers.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto picked up right where he left off in last year’s postseason on the Dodgers’ Opening Day, allowing 5 hits and 2 earned runs over 6.0 solid innings. The Dodgers’ pitching staff has been stingy as a whole, allowing 4 or fewer runs in each of the first 5 games, which is no surprise with a bunch of high-level starters and a stacked bullpen. Los Angeles’ bullpen is also relatively rested for the rubber match of this series. Despite the Dodgers also having a stacked offense, they haven’t been dominating games as much as some people might’ve thought in the early season. After putting up eight runs on Opening Day against the Diamondbacks, they haven’t scored more than 5 in either of their next 4. Los Angeles also has just 6 runs over the first 2 games of this series. With so much firepower in these offenses, it’s a hard watch to have the under. However, both games have gone under to start the series, and I can see it happening again here.

Guardians vs Dodgers prediction: Under 8.5 (-120) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.