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The Astros make the trip to Detroit to face the Tigers! The Astros are struggling this year, while the Tigers have been inconsistent overall. Our MLB odds series has our Astros-Tigers prediction, odds, and pick for Saturday.
The Astros have opened this season struggling. They have a 13-24 record and just broke a four-game losing straight in their most recent game. Despite their struggles, their offense has been nothing short of great with a top-five batting average as a team in the league. Jose Altuve, Kyle Tucker, Jeremy Pena, Yainer Diaz, and Yordan Alvarez have been great for Houston behind the plate. The issue is all on the mound where they have struggled across the board. Ronel Blanco and Framber Valdez have stood out on a struggling staff, and Cristian Javier will also provide a much-needed boost after coming back from injury. The Astros have talent but have struggled to put it together this season and now the question is if they will ever put it together, especially on the mound.
The Tigers have opened the season playing solid baseball on their way to a 19-18 record. Their bats have struggled a bit, ranking near the bottom of the MLB, but their pitching has been great and is a top-five unit overall. There is a massive discrepancy between their bats and their play on the mound. Riley Greene, Mark Canha, Kerry Carpenter, and Spencer Torkelson have been able to stand out in an offense that has been subpar so far up to this point in the season. In comparison, the pitching has been great. Their ace has been Tarik Skubal who has been nothing short of dominant for them so far to start the season, but they lost in his last time out, and then Jack Flaherty and Reese Olson have also been very good behind him. The Tigers' pitching might be the biggest key in this game across the board.
Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Astros-Tigers Odds
Houston Astros: -1.5 (+176)
Moneyline: +108
Detroit Tigers: +1.5 (-215)
Moneyline: -126
Over: 7.5 (-110)
Under: 7.5 (-110)
How to Watch Astros vs. Tigers
Time: 6:10 pm ET
TV: Space City Home Network / Bally Sports Detroit
Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)
Why The Astros Will Cover The Spread/Win
The Astros are putting Cristian Javier on the mound for the first time after being on the IL for 15 days. He has a 2-0 record, a 1.54 ERA, and a 1.11 WHIP. Javier has allowed five runs on 15 hits with 11 walks and 18 strikeouts through 23.1 innings up to this point in the season. In his four appearances for Houston, the Astros are 2-2. In his last start, he pitched seven innings and allowed two runs on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts in an Astros win. Javier has been a bright spot for the Astros and they need him on the mound after coming back from injury.
The offense for the Astros has been one of the best in the MLB so far this season. They are tied for third in batting average at .258 after they finished last season with a .259 batting average. Jeremy Pena, Jose Altuve, and Kyle Tucker lead the Astros in almost every important batting category. Pena leads the way in the current batting average at .333. Then, Altuve leads the team in OBP at .387 and in total hits at 50. Tucker also leads the way in home runs at 11 and then in RBI at 25. At least 10 Astros have hit a minimum of one home run. This offense has had to carry them this season and that will be no different against the Tigers. This matchup should be great because of how well the Tigers have played on the mound.
Why The Tigers Will Cover The Spread/Win
The Tigers are putting their ace, Tarik Skubal, on the mound where he has a 4-0 record, a 1.90 ERA, and a 0.77 WHIP. Through 42.2 innings, Skubal has allowed 11 runs on 27 hits with six walks and 53 strikeouts. The Tigers are 5-2 in the seven games that he's appeared in this season. In his last start, he pitched six innings and gave up two runs on six hits with zero walks and 12 strikeouts. Skubal has been nothing short of great for the Tigers and he will need to step up even more against an offense as good as the Astros.
The offense for the Tigers has not played well this season. The Tigers are 23rd in the MLB in team batting average at .227 after having a team batting average of .236 last season where they finished near the bottom of the MLB. Kerry Carpenter and Riley Greene lead the way in most of the batting categories for the Tigers. Carpenter is the leader in batting average at .269. Then, Greene leads the way in home runs at nine, in RBI at 17, in OBP at .373, and in total hits at 34. This matchup will be interesting because Javier has been very good, but is only just now coming back from an injury, so the Tigers could take advantage of his rust.
Final Astros-Tigers Prediction & Pick
The key to this game is on the mound. Javier has been very good, but this is his first game back from injury, while Tarik Skubal has been great as the best pitcher for the Tigers and one of the best in the MLB. Expect Skubal to slow down the Astros offense and the Tigers to do just enough on offense on their own. The Tigers should cover and win outright against the Astros at home.
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Final Astros-Tigers Prediction & Pick: Tigers +1.5 (-215)
