Thursday brings several games in MLB as we get closer to the last weekend of play before the trade deadline, which is sure to bring several more deals as teams prepare for the final stretch of the regular season. Here’s what’s coming up today in action around the league, along with Sports Intel’s intelligent picks.

Guardians Seek Split With Red Sox In Boston

The Cleveland Guardians and Boston Red Sox play the final game of their four-game series tonight and go for their third straight win. Boston won the first game, while the Guardians took their second straight last night 7-6. Cleveland is now just 1.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins for first place in the AL Central.

Boston has slipped to the bottom of the AL East since losing two straight and 11 of their last 13 games. They’re currently 17 games behind the first-place Yankees and were swept in their previous series against the Toronto Blue Jays, where they gave up 40 runs in three games. 

Triston McKenzie makes the start for Cleveland and is 7-6 with a 3.11 ERA. He’ll oppose Kutter Crawford for the Red Sox, who is 2-3 with a 4.50 ERA on the season. 

Cleveland gets the win for their third straight against Boston.

Dodgers Begin Four-Game Series in Colorado

The Los Angeles Dodgers hope to overcome their recent stumble and travel to Colorado to face the Rockies in their next series. They have a commanding lead of 11.5 games in the NL West division but recently lost two of three games at home to the Washington Nationals. They have dominated all opponents during their current streak of 20 wins in their last 24 games.

The Rockies are at the bottom of the NL West and trail the Dodgers by 21 games in the standings. Since their recent five-game winning streak, Colorado has lost five of its last seven contests. However, they salvaged a split against the Chicago White Sox, winning the second game of their series 6-5 last night.  

Tyler Anderson continues his outstanding season for the Dodgers and brings his 10-1 record and 2.79 ERA into tonight’s game against Jose Urena for the Rockies. He’s 1-2 with a 1.42 ERA in 31.2 innings this season. 

The Dodgers win to begin another positive streak.

Rangers and Angels Battle In AL West Matchup

The Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels will play the first of their four-game series tonight at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. Texas is third in the division standings but is 20 games behind the first-place Astros and ten behind the Mariners, who are in second place and recently swept the Rangers in the last series. 

The Angels are coming off a dreadful streak where they lost 12 of 14 games and took two of three games from the Kansas City Royals in a series where the losing team was shut out in each contest. They’re 1.5 games behind the Rangers in the division standings. 

Spencer Howard takes the mound for Texas and is 1-2 with a 7.11 ERA this season. He will go up against the Angels’ ace Shohei Ohtani, who is 9-5 with a 2.80 ERA.

The Angels win to get a much-needed third straight victory.