The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Detroit Tigers meet in MLB action from Comerica Park on Tuesday night.
The Pittsburgh Pirates will look to build off of a 6-5 win over the Brewers in extra innings on Sunday. Bryan Reynolds leads the Pirates with a .317 batting average and 20 hits while Adam Frazier has 18 hits with team-highs of 5 doubles and a pair of triples. Colin Moran also has 4 home runs and 13 RBIs. The power also has come with a price as Moran leads the Pirates with 20 strikeouts as well this season. Tyler Anderson is expected to make the start here and is 1-2 with a 4.02 ERA and 14 strikeouts this season. This will be Anderson’s first career start against Detroit.
The Detroit Tigers will try to rebound from a 3-2 loss to the Oakland A’s in their last game. Jeimer Candelario leads the Tigers with a .295 batting average and 18 hits with 4 doubles while Robbie Grossman has a team-best .400 OBP. Wilson Ramos has a team-high 6 home runs while Akil Baddoo has a team-high 11 RBIs with 4 home runs this season. Michael Fulmer leads the Tigers on the mound here in the start and is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA and 12 strikeouts this season. In his career, Fulmer is 0-1 with a 0.64 ERA and 12 strikeouts against the Pirates.
Pittsburgh is 30-61 in their last 91 games overall and 21-43 in their last 64 series-opening matchups while the over is 3-1-1 in their last 5 interleague games. Detroit is 5-0 in their last 5 games as a favorite and 4-1 in their last 5 home games against a left-handed starter while the under is 5-0 in their last 5 games following a loss. The over is 19-7-1 in the last 27 meetings between these two teams.
I get why the Tigers would be favored at home, but the Tigers have really cooled off as of late and Fulmer isn’t really a pitcher I’m trying to get behind. Tyler Anderson isn’t either, but the Pirates have picked up wins in spots where you wouldn’t expect it and maybe this is a spot where we can actually expect a win from Pittsburgh. I’ll take a stab at Pittsburgh and the plus money in this spot.