Cleveland Guardians (18-21) vs. Detroit Tigers (15-28)
May 26, 2022 7:10 pm EDT
The Line: Detroit Tigers -141 / Cleveland Guardians +130; Over/Under: -7.5
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The Cleveland Guardians and the Detroit Tigers meet Thursday in MLB action from Comerica Park. Cleveland is fresh off a series versus the Astros. After a split in the first pair, in the Wednesday rubber match the Guardians lost by one run. As for Detroit, they played Minnesota in their last set. The Tigers lost the first two games of that series, then on Wednesday Detroit posted a two-run win. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Cleveland took a nice 6-1 win over the Astros Monday in the series opener, then fell 7-3 Tuesday. In the Wednesday rubber match, Cleveland fell in a tough 2-1 result with just four team hits. Starter Cal Quantrill put up 6.0 frames with two earned on six hits and four walks.
For the starter gig in the Thursday game, the Guardians are going with Konnor Pilkington. In four games (one start0 without a decision so far, Pilkington has a 2.08 ERA. In 8.2 innings he’s got two earned on five hits and four walks.
Over on the Detroit side, they took a tough 5-4 loss to the Twins Monday and another 2-0 loss in game two. On Wednesday the Tigers scored two in the top of the 10th inning on the way to a 4-2 victory. Rony Garcia had both earned runs in 4.0 innings with three hits and two walks in the start.
For the starter gig in the Thursday opener, the Tigers are sending out Tarik Skubal. Across his eight starts this year Skubal is 3-2 with a 2.22 ERA. In 44.2 innings of work he’s got 39 hits, 11 earned runs, eight walks and 50 Ks.
The Guardians are 4-1 in their last five versus a lefty starter and 2-5 in their last seven on grass. The over is 6-2 in Cleveland’s last eight in game one of a series.
Meanwhile, Detroit is 17-35 in their last 52 overall and 14-37 in their last 51 Thursday games. The Tigers are 56-123 in their last 179 versus the AL Central.
PICK: I’m going to try the Tigers here. Skubal has been on a very impressive run lately; he’s having a nice year overall despite a couple of losses. In his last three starts combined, Skubal has zero earned on 10 hits and five walks in 18.0 innings total. Detroit hasn’t exactly been the most reliable offensive team this year however, so they’re going to need to give Skubal some backup in this opener.
