Cleveland Guardians at Detroit Tigers Betting Preview
The Detroit Tigers provided their own fireworks on the 4th of July, sweeping a doubleheader against the Cleveland Guardians 4-1 and 5-3. It was a nice bounce-back for the Tigers after losing two of three at home to the Royals over the weekend, and now Detroit will try to keep that momentum going on Tuesday as +130 underdogs.
Losing two games on Monday was disappointing for Cleveland, who may be having some concerns with their offense after being held to three runs or less in four straight games. The Guardians are still lofty -154 favorites on Tuesday, though, despite losing at -143 and -121 in the doubleheader.
Cleveland Bats Asleep
The only thing saving the Guardians from a current four-game losing streak is a masterful pitching performance from Triston McKenzie in Sunday’s 2-0 win over the Yankees. Otherwise, Cleveland is averaging barely over two runs per game in their last five, which is a big reason they are 1-4 over that span.
It appears that as Jose Ramirez goes, so does the Cleveland offense, as he’s hitting just .194 over the past week. He’s far from the only Guardians batter struggling, though, as Amed Rosario is the only regular lineup player hitting better than .265 over the past nine games.
Cal Quantrill (4-4, 3.72 ERA) can hope for some run support when he takes the mound on Tuesday night, but who knows if he’ll get it. That’s not a great situation for a pitcher that has allowed at least three earned runs in four of his last six starts.
Detroit Looks to Keep Rolling
Detroit aims to avoid the hangover from the holiday sweep, getting a couple of solid pitching performances in the 4-1 and 5-3 victories in the double header. The Tigers called up Triple A players Garrett Hill (in his MLB debut) and Alex Faedo for the two starts on Monday, so getting two wins is somewhat surprising.
Another Toledo Mud Hens player takes the ball on Tuesday as Drew Hutchison (0-4, 4.81) is called back up to the big club. He’s made two MLB starts this year as well as ten relief appearances, his latest being 4.2 IP of three earned run ball in a 7-3 win over the Rangers on June 19th.
Guardians vs. Tigers Pick and Prediction
Normally one would think Cleveland would open things up offensively vs. a Triple-A pitcher, but they didn’t do that in two opportunities on Monday. The Guardians have some real concerns at the plate right now and what that does is really give the opposing pitcher confidence, which we saw an example of in the double header.
The Tigers outhit Cleveland 20-8 in the two games on Monday, with the bullpen being exceptionally good, allowing just two hits over 8.1 IP. Until the Guardians have that breakout offensive game with the bats, they have to be considered a fade team right now, especially at a -154 price tag.
Pick: Tigers +130
