Kansas City Royals vs Cleveland Guardians Prediction & Picks - MLB

Prediction published on 3/29/25, 12:19 PM  by Carlos Zabala | Modified on 2/16/26 at 4:26 PM in MLB Picks

In a packed Kauffman Stadium crowd of nearly 40,000, the Royals and Guardians played a close Opening Day game that went into extra innings, where Kwan and Manzardo would close the game out for the Guardians, driving in three runs for a final 7-4 lead. Manzardo was the hero of the day for the Guardians, as he not only extended his team's lead late in the sixth inning with a two-run home run, putting them ahead.

Pasquantino homered for the Royals in a game they had a 3-0 lead, but Ragans, after three scoreless innings, struggled in the middle of the game, allowing five hits and three earned runs before leaving. However, the Royals also momentarily tied the game with the best closer in the MLB, Clase, who gave up three hits and allowed the tying run, and it was then Sewald who earned the save for the Guardians.

With a day's rest between Games 1 and 2 of the series, Lugo will start for the Royals and Gavin Williams for the Guardians. The Royals are once again the betting favorite, as they were in Game 1, but Cleveland paid odds of around +153 for their Opening Day win.