Picks, predictions for Guardians vs. White Sox on Thursday, May 18

The Chicago White Sox will go for a sweep of the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday afternoon after taking the first two games of this series. First pitch is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. ET from Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, Illinois. Rookie Logan Allen (1-1, 3.43 ERA) will get the ball for Cleveland while ace Dylan Cease (2-2, 4.86) looks to get back on track for the White Sox.

Chicago is a -140 moneyline favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook, making the Guardians +120 underdogs with the over/under set at eight.

Guardians-White Sox picks: Thursday, May 18th

Injury report

Guardians

Day to day: 1B Josh Naylor (leg)

Out: SP Aaron Civale (oblique), SP Triston McKenzie (shoulder), SP Cody Morris (shoulder)

White Sox

Day to day: C Yasmani Grandal (hamstring)

Out: SS Elvis Andrus (oblique), OF Billy Hamilton (hamstring), OF Eloy Jiminez (abdomen), RP Matt Foster (forearm), RP Liam Hendriks (cancer)

Starting pitchers

Logan Allen vs. Dylan Cease

Allen will make his fifth career MLB start, and he’s throwing well as a rookie so far. He hasn’t allowed more than three runs in a game to this point, though he allowed plenty of base runners in his last outing against the Los Angeles Angels, with three runs on eight hits and two walks over 4.1 innings.

Cease will make his 10th start of 2023 and is coming off his best outing of the season. Over the weekend, he threw six scoreless innings on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts. Cease put together an incredible 2022 when he finished with a 2.20 ERA.

Over/Under pick

Cease is set up for a successful performance in this matchup, going up against a Cleveland offense that ranks last in slugging percentage (.341). On the other side, the White Sox haven’t hit the ball all that well either, checking in at 27th in on-base percentage (.304) — while Chicago has gotten hot recently, Allen should be able to keep the bats in check enough.

Pick: Under 8

Moneyline pick

Cease is far better than his season-long numbers suggest, and his last outing may have helped him turn a corner after a string of bad starts. This could be an opportunity to buy low on the starter who finished second in the American League Cy Young race in 2022.

Pick: White Sox