MLB Picks

Cleveland Indians vs. Detroit Tigers – 8/23/20 MLB Pick, Odds, and Prediction


2020-08-23 13:10:00 EDT

The Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Indians meet Sunday in MLB action from Progressive Field. 

This will be the third and final installment of a three-game weekend series between these teams. Detroit broke a 20-game losing streak versus Cleveland with a 10-5 Friday victory. In the Saturday game, the Indians got back in the driver’s seat with a 6-1 win. Check back all season long for free MLB picks and MLB predictions at Sports Chat Place. 

The Tigers offense came up pretty meager on Saturday, posting just three hits on the game. Willi Castro provided the lone RBI with a solo home run in the fourth. Matthew Boyd managed 5.1 innings with two earned and five hits there with six strikeouts. 

For the Sunday starting pitcher role, Detroit will turn to left-hander Tarik Skubal. The 23-year-old Skubal has one MLB start to his credit so far, taking a loss with 2.0 innings, one strikeout and a bloated 18.00 ERA alongside a 4.00 WHIP. 

Over on the Indians’ side, Triston McKenzie got the Saturday win with a nice outing, going 6.0 innings with two hits and one earned with nine strikeouts. Cesar Hernandez and Francisco Lindor each logged three hits, combining for an RBI and two runs. 

Cleveland will be sending out Carlos Carrasco in the starting role on Sunday. Across his five starts in 2020, Carrasco is 2-2 with a 3.71 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 26.2 innings of work. Over his career, Carrasco is 87-71 with a 3.81 ERA and 1258 Ks in 1201.0 innings. 

The Tigers are 20-45 in their last 65 Sunday games and 16-39 in their last 55 during game three of a series. Detroit is 39-108 in their last 147 overall and the under is 7-1-1 in their last nine Sunday games. 

Meanwhile, the Indians are 4-0 in their last four during game three of a series and 15-5 in their last 20 Sunday games. Cleveland is 58-24 in their last 82 games as a favorite and 48-21 in their last 69 games versus the American League Central. 

Pick: Going with the Indians. Granted, Carrasco hasn’t been quite as sharp as usual this season so far, giving up 12 walks in 14.2 innings. If he can get that cleaned up and keep the BBs at a minimum in this one, it’ll be hard for the Tigers to find much traction initially. I do think Skubal will settle in and pitch better here, however; he coughed up four runs on seven hits in two innings Tuesday in Chicago. Ultimately this is probably Cleveland’s game to lose, though. 

Andrew's Free Pick: Cleveland Indians -235

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Andrew

Andrew has been writing about college, professional and fantasy sports betting since 2013. Andrew's goal is to break down the complicated numbers and trends into a language that's easily accessible to novice sports bettors and seasoned professionals alike.

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