Cleveland Guardians vs Seattle Mariners Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 03/27/26

The Cleveland Guardians took the upset win in the first game of the series on Opening Day, powered by a couple of clutch doubles from Brayan Rocchio and Jose Ramirez, and two solo home runs. The Guardians’ bats showed up on Thursday, which was a bit of a concern coming into the season for them. However, the Seattle Mariners didn’t have as much success, belting four solo home runs to give them their runs, but adding just two hits the rest of the way. The Mariners’ bats should bounce back on Friday evening.

Gavin Williams will take the mound for the Guardians, and all eyes in the organization will be on his performance as he didn’t have the easiest time getting outs in Spring Training. Williams was lights-out at last year’s Spring Training, which led to an outstanding regular season, so Cleveland has to hope this year’s struggles won’t have the opposite effect. Williams gave up an earned run in every appearance this spring, including a 7-hit, 5-earned run blowup against the Chicago Cubs.

George Kirby had a better Spring Training, and he will be looking for a bounce-back year after carrying a 4.21 ERA, the first time in his career he ended a season above 4. Kirby didn’t return last season until May, and it took some time for him to shake the rust off, but he did finish strong down the stretch of the regular season and in the playoffs, except for one bad game against the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALCS. Kirby is prone to a blowup, but if he can get through the first few innings unscathed, he’ll normally settle in and give the offense a chance to run up a lead.

The Mariners aren’t going to take too kindly to an Opening Day upset loss in their ballpark, and I expect them to make a statement on Friday night to avoid going down 0-2 on the season.

Guardians vs Mariners prediction: Seattle Mariners -1.5 (+130) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.