The Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Guardians meet Monday in MLB playoffs action from Progressive Field. This will be the second installment in a best-of-five postseason series. Here’s a Cleveland Guardians vs Detroit Tigers prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Guardians vs Tigers pick.
Detroit Tigers Betting Preview
The Tigers were able to power through the Wild Card Series versus the Houston Astros, securing wins 3-1 and 5-2 to move on. In Game 1 of the Division Series versus the Guardians on Saturday, Detroit took a 7-0 shutout loss. Tyler Holton gave up three of the earned runs on two hits and a walk.
In the starter slot for Monday’s game, the Tigers will send out Tarik Skubal. This year Skubal went 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA in 31 starts. Skubal has a career regular-season record of 41-31 with a 3.37 ERA in 106 games (103 starts).
Cleveland Guardians Betting Preview
Over on the Guardians’ side, they were able to post a 92-69 overall record this year—second-best in the American League—on the way to a Central Division championship. In Saturday’s playoff opener, the Guardians scored five of their runs in the first inning and cruised from there. Tanner Bibee logged 4.2 clean frames, four hits, a walk and six Ks.
It’ll be Matthew Boyd in the starter role for the Guardians Monday. This year Boyd went 2-2 with a 2.72 ERA in eight starts. Boyd has just one postseason appearance in his career, notching 0.1 innings.
Total Runs Facts
- Seven of the Tigers’ last eight day games as favorites have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- Five of the Guardians’ last six games have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Guardians’ last seven home games.
- The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Tigers’ last six games as road favorites against AL Central opponents.
Cleveland Guardians Player Prop Facts
- Andres Gimenez has recorded a Double in three of the Guardians’ last four games as underdogs against AL Central opponents.
- Jose Ramirez has hit at least one home run in two of the Guardians’ last three games against the Tigers.
- Josh Naylor has recorded at least one RBI in four of the Guardians’ last five day games against AL Central opponents that held a winning record.
- Josh Naylor has scored at least one run in 14 of his last 15 home appearances after not playing the previous day.
- Josh Naylor has recorded at least one total base in each of the Guardians’ last 10 games as home underdogs against AL opponents.
- Josh Naylor has recorded at least one hit in each of the Guardians’ last 10 games as home underdogs against AL opponents.
- Will Brennan has recorded at least one Single in each of his last eight appearances against AL opponents that held a winning record.
- Jose Ramirez ranks T5th in the league in Home Runs (39) this season.
Detroit Tigers Player Prop Facts
- Spencer Torkelson has scored a run in each of the Tigers’ last six games as road favorites.
- Javier Baez has hit a home run in two of his last three appearances against AL opponents that held a winning record.
- Colt Keith has recorded at least one total base in each of his last nine appearances with the Tigers as road favorites.
- Colt Keith has recorded at least one Single in each of his last six appearances with the Tigers as road favorites against AL opponents.
- Colt Keith has recorded at least one RBI in eight of his last nine appearances with the Tigers as road favorites.
- Colt Keith has recorded at least one hit in each of his last nine appearances with the Tigers as road favorites.
- Zach McKinstry has recorded a Double in each of his last three appearances against the Guardians after not playing the previous day.
- Tarik Skubal ranks 1st in the league for total Strikeouts (228) this season.
Matchup/League Facts
- The Cleveland Guardians rank 2nd in the league for hits allowed this season (1224).
- The Cleveland Guardians rank 3rd in the league for ERA this season (3.61).
- The Detroit Tigers rank 1st in the league for triples this season (47).
- The Detroit Tigers rank 29th in the league for on-base percentage this season (.300).
Cleveland Guardians vs Detroit Tigers Prediction
I’m going to try Detroit here. Skubal should be able to post a quality outing Monday. He was great in the opener of the Wild Card Series versus the Astros, pitching 6.0 clean frames with four hits, one walk and six Ks. As for Boyd, he’s given up six earned runs on 15 combined hits and eight walks over his last 11.0 total innings, going 0-1 in three games.
On Saturday Detroit had a couple of bad innings on the mound, but it hardly mattered as the team could muster just four hits at the plate. The Tigers had scored eight runs in the previous two games and held the opposition to only three combined. I think Detroit has a decent shot at bouncing back here, but the bats have to get moving.