The fight for the top of the AL Central continues tonight as the Cleveland Guardians head to the South Side of Chicago. They begin a three-game set against the rival White Sox, who are looking to retake pole position in the division over the course of the series. First pitch is set for 7:40 p.m. ET.

Here’s a betting prediction and pick for this Guardians vs. White Sox matchup courtesy of MLB odds and lines on DraftKings Sportsbook.

Guardians vs. White Sox prediction, preview

Cleveland Guardians

The Guardians are fighting to stay afloat at the top of the AL Central right now. They’re 41-37 but are just 4-6 over their last 10 games while weathering the absences of Jose Ramirez and Chase DeLauter, their superstar and another key everyday bat in the outfield. Cleveland’s run differential on the year clocks in at -7, and the club’s 3.97 runs per game are still the third fewest in the MLB, while an OPS of .683 has dipped to third-to-last. The full slash line comes in at .228/.313/.373 — typically facing a lefty would bring some slightly better marks with a .236/.321/.365 line and .686 OPS, but they are missing two of their best bats against southpaws. The Guardians a nice 10.3% BB% and 21.3% K%, both top-10 marks, but that’s about where positives for this offense end. They’re severely lacking in power with just 74 homers, 20 of which have come from lefties, and a .142 ISO that ranks near the bottom amongst all clubs.

RHP Gavin Williams draws the start for the Guardians tonight with a 9-4 record across 15 outings. A 3.83 WHIP, a 1.13 WHIP and 103 strikeouts are all excellent marks, pacing the AL in wins with the fourth-most punchouts. His team’s bullpen is also quite effective with the 10th-best ERA at 3.96, plus a 1.30 WHIP and a 17.0% K-BB%.

Chicago White Sox

The White Sox were atop the AL Central until the weekend, suffering a three-game sweep at the hands of the rival Detroit Tigers. Now, they’re 39-37 but 4-6 over their last 10 games. Now, they’re 1.5 games shy of the lead with a run differential of -4 on the campaign. Chicago averages 464 runs per game, good for 12th in the MLB, and the club’s OPS of .729 sits 13th. The Sox have a .237/.319/.410 slash line, though they get the lesser of their splits against a RHP tonight at .235/.316/.400 for a .716 OPS. They also have 70 of their 106 homers vs. right-handers and an overall ISO of .173 that ranks fourth in the MLB. However, a 24.0% K% is still quite high, even if a 9.1% BB% is decent alongside it.

LHP Anthony Kay will start for Chicago tonight with a 6-2 record in 15 outings. He has a 4.61 ERA, a 1.44 WHIP and 55 strikeouts across 70.1 IP. The White Sox bullpen has a 4.30 ERA that ranks 18th in the MLB, plus a 1.37 WHIP and 10.5% K-BB%.

Guardians vs. White Sox pick, best bet

DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Guardians as extremely slight -109 Moneyline favorites on the road today, while the White Sox are listed at -109 odds to win outright. This matchup is a toss-up with the run total set at 7.5.

Best Bet: Gavin Williams 7+ strikeouts (+115)

The Guardians’ top arm is having quite the season thus far. Williams may get hit hard when opposing hitters do make contact, garnering a sixth-percentile average exit velocity. However, he’s been excellent at keeping runners off the basepaths for the most part and has great grades in whiff rate and K%, which both rank in the 85th percentile. That K% comes in at 27.9%, which is what we care about with this prop. He has recorded at least seven strikeouts in eight of his 15 starts this year, though he’s slowed down lately without hitting that mark in any of his last four games. That should change tonight with this matchup against a team that ranks third worst in K% with 9.11 strikeouts a night.