Cleveland Guardians vs Toronto Blue Jays Prediction: The Blue Jays will dominate this time

Thursday's Major League Baseball action from Progressive Field features a matchup between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Cleveland Guardians. This will be the third game in a series that will ultimately consist of four different titles. The first game was won by the Toronto Blue Jays by two runs, but on Wednesday, the Cleveland Guardians tied the series with a victory of their own in a close contest.

Gavin Williams had a fantastic start (7.0 innings; 12 strikeouts; one hit; one walk), but the Cleveland Guardians could only manage one run on five total hits on Tuesday. In the game that took place on Wednesday, the Cleveland Guardians received an RBI from Ramon Laureano in the second inning, which Oscar Gonzalez then scored on. Brayan Rocchio was the only other player for Cleveland to have a hit in this game. On Thursday, the Guardians' starting pitcher for the game will be Logan Allen. Allen has a record of 5-4 on the year with a 3.65 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 86.1 innings pitched over 16 starts. In his previous seven starts, Allen has a record of 2-2 with a 4.15 earned-run average.

In the first game of this series, which took place on Tuesday, the Toronto Blue Jays won 3-1 despite not scoring until the eighth inning (when they were already behind). Both Cavan Biggio and George Springer had home runs, with Biggio driving in two runs and Springer driving in one. The Toronto Blue Jays outhit the Cleveland Guardians 9-3 on Wednesday, but they were unable to capitalize on their superior hitting in a tough 1-0 loss. Both Whit Merrifield and Vladimir Guerrero had three hits apiece, with Guerrero going 2-for-4. On Thursday, the Toronto Blue Jays will turn to Kevin Gausman as their starting pitcher. In 22 starts so far this season, Gausman has a record of 8-6 with a 3.20 earned run average, 177 strikeouts, and 132.0 innings pitched. In his previous seven starts, Gausman has a record of 2-3 with a 3.66 earned run average.

In this matchup, I'm going to continue to back the Toronto Blue Jays. However, anything is possible in the third game. However, each of the starters could benefit from a strong performance. In his most recent start, Gausman was pulled after 4.1 innings and three earned runs against a strong Orioles squad. However, in his start prior to that, he pitched 6.0 innings against the Angels and allowed just one earned run. As for Allen, in his most recent start, he allowed two earned runs over the course of 6.0 innings, but prior to that, he had given up nine earned runs over the course of 13.0 innings. On Tuesday, the offensive ineptitude of the Toronto Blue Jays caused Yusei Kikuchi's terrific start to go to waste for the team (7.0 innings; three hits; one earned run; one walk; six strikeouts). It was the first time since July 19 that the Toronto Blue Jays were held scoreless, but I believe they will get it back in game three.