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The San Francisco Giants make a pit stop in Detroit for a makeup game with the Detroit Tigers. It is now time to continue our MLB odds series with a Giants-Tigers prediction, pick, and how to watch.
The Giants have struggled as of late. they have lost five in a row after going on a seven-game winning streak. Over the weekend it was a sweep at the hands of the Washington Nationals. The offense struggled, scoring just five runs in the series, while they gave up 21 in the three games. Nothing went right for the Giants in that series. The pitching gave up plenty of home runs, while the Nationals were able to steal a lot of bases, led by Lane Thomas stealing four in one game. Still, the Giants are 54-46 on the year and just four games back of the Dodgers in the division. They do currently hold a wild card spot, but they have just a half-game lead over the Phillies and Marlins for that spot.
The Tigers are coming off a win, but they lost two of three to the Padres over the weekend. A day after giving up 14 runs to the Padres, Alex Faedo went six innings and gave up just one hit, as the bullpen finished the game giving up just one run. Even with a 45-54 record on the season, the Tigers are just seven games back in the chase for the AL Central. They will want to close that gap soon though, as there is heavy interest for many of their players at the deadline, and the Tigers need to decide if they will be sellers. Today, the Tigers will be playing the Giants for just one game, a makeup game from April 16th.
Here are the Giants-Tigers MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Giants-Tigers Odds
San Francisco Giants: +1.5 (-170)
Detroit Tigers: -1.5 (+140)
Over: 8.5 (-104)
Under: 8.5 (-118)
How To Watch Giants vs. Tigers
TV: NBCSBA/BSDET
Stream: MLB.TV
Time: 1:10 PM ET/ 10:10 AM PT
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Giants Could Cover The Spread
For the Giants to get back to winning, they need to get back to scoring runs. They scored 38 runs in their seven-game winning streak, good for over five a game. Meanwhile, they have scored just eight runs in their five-game losing streak, good for less than two a game. On the season, the offense has been fairly average. They are 13th in the majors in runs scored, while sitting 19th in batting average, 16th in on-base percentage and 20th in slugging. One major reason for the struggles has been the struggles of Mike Yastrzemski. He does not have a hit in the losing streak, going 0-19. On the month, he is hitting just .087, with 14 strikeouts. He does have one home runs and three RBIs though.
While Yastrzemski has struggled, Wilmer Flores is hot. Flores is hitting .423 on the mother, with four home runs and seven RBIs. He has also scored eight times with five doubles, and an on base percentage of .423. He was also one of the better bats during this losing streak, going 4-11 at the plate with a home run. Joining him in hitting well as of late is Joc Pederson. Pederson is hitting just .191 on the month, but he does have a .316 on-base percentage. It has been the last few games that have shown him moving in the right direction. In the series with the Nationals, he was 4-7 with two doubles, two home runs, and three RBIs.
The major RBI producer of the month has been Michael Conforto. He is hitting .259 on the month, with a .322 on-base percentage. He has nine RBIs this mother, the majority came in the seven-game winning streak. Conforto does not have one since, with just two hits since then. Overall, in the last week, the Giants are hitting just .185 as a team, something they will need to turn around to get a win today.
The Giants will be sending Ross Stripling to the mound today. On the season he is 0-3 with a 5.92 ERA. Stripling has been better so far in July though. While making four starts, Stripling has given up seven runs in 16.1 innings. That gives him a 3.86 ERA, but he still does not have a win.
Why The Tigers Could Cover The Spread
The Tiger's offense has been awful this year. They are sitting 28th in runs scored, 29th in batting average, 28th in on-base percentage, and 29th in slugging. Meanwhile, the pitching is much better. while they are 20th in team ERA, they are sixth in WHIP and 14th in opponent batting average. They will be sending Tarik Skubal to the mound today to make his fourth star of the year. The Tigers have yet to have a win in games in which Skubal has started. In his first two starts, he was solid. Going four innings in each of them and not giving up a run. The last time out was bad though. He went four innings again but gave up seven runs in a loss to Kansas City.
On the offensive side of things, the Tigers are led by Spencer Torkelson and Zach McKinstry. Torkelson leads the team in home runs and RBIs on the season but is sitting tied for 50th in the majors or worse in both of those categories. He has been driving in a fair amount of runs this month. He has 13 RBIs on the month, with the help of four home runs, a triple, and four doubles. Torkelson has also scored 12 runs this month while getting on base at a .321 clip. The biggest issue for him as of late has been strikeouts. He has struck out 20 times this month already.
McKinstry leads the team in batting average and on-base percentage but is outside the top 100 in the majors of both of those categories. This month, he has been fairly average, and sitting right around his normal numbers for the year. He has scored ten times this month but driven in just four while hitting .246. He also has two home runs, two doubles, and a triple. McKinstry has struggled some as of late with runners in scoring position, which has led to low RBI totals and low run totals for the Tigers.
Final Giants-Tigers Prediction & Pick
The Giants are the better team in this game, but they have been playing awful. In the pitching match-up, there is not much of an edge. Stripling has not been great this year but has been slightly better in July. Meanwhile, Skubal has had two good starts and one bad one. The biggest issue is he has not pitched more than four innings yet this year. With the extra runs going to the Giants, they should be the pick to cover in this one.
Final Giants-Tigers Prediction & Pick: Giants +1.5 (-170)
