Oakland Athletics vs Detroit Tigers MLB Picks, Odds, Predictions 4/15/21
2021-04-15 21:40:00 EDT
The Detroit Tigers and the Oakland Athletics meet Thursday in MLB action from O.co Coliseum.
Detroit is coming off a series versus the Astros this week. The Tigers took wins in the first two games, then on Wednesday Detroit made it a sweep. As for the A’s, they played a pair versus the Diamondbacks this week. Oakland won both of those and is sitting on a four-game win streak. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Detroit posted a nice 6-2 win against the Astros on Monday, then followed that up with an 8-2 victory in the Tuesday game. On Wednesday, the Tigers got into a jam in the bottom of the ninth but still were able to hang on for a 6-4 victory. Starter Michael Fulmer went 5.0 innings with two earned in that one.
For the Thursday game, the Tigers will send out Tarik Skubal for the starting role. So far this year, Skubal is 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA, nine hits and eight earned in 9.1 innings of work. Skubal gave up three home runs over four innings on Saturday versus the Indians.
Over on the A’s side, they’ve won their last four games; two versus Houston and two versus Arizona. In the Tuesday win 7-5 over the Diamondbacks, the A’s recovered from a flat outing by starter Jesus Luzardo (2.2 innings; five earned) to get the victory.
For Thursday’s starting pitcher role, Oakland will turn to Sean Manaea. In two starts so far this year (both versus Houston), Manaea has 10.2 innings, a 5.06 ERA, 12 hits, six earned, four walks and eight strikeouts. He went 6.0 innings with one earned in his last start.
The Tigers are 17-38 in their last 55 in game one of a series and 57-135 in their last 192 overall. Detroit is 23-58 in their last 81 road games and 5-21 in their last 26 Thursday games.
Meanwhile, the A’s are 43-13 in their last 56 versus the AL Central and 64-30 in their last 94 versus a team with a losing record. Oakland is 1-4 in their last five Thursday games and 1-4 in their last five after an off day.
PICK: I like the A’s in this one. Manaea is coming off a nice start versus the Astros on April 9, and should be confident coming in here. As for Skubal, he didn’t have much movement on his pitches in his last start Saturday and really didn’t have a good outing at all. I like Skubal to pitch better here, but I still think the A’s are the better play.
