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Ladies and gentleman, the weekend is finally here! Whether it is sunny with no clouds in sight or even cold and snowy where you are, sit back and relax to America's national pastime as the Detroit Tigers get ready to square off against their division rivals in the Cleveland Guardians on Saturday. Join us for our MLB odds series, where our Tigers-Guardians prediction and pick will be unveiled for all to see.
Entering Saturday's prolific matchup, the Tigers were on the wrong side of the scoreboard on Friday, as they managed to only muster up a single run in the 6-1 defeat. Sitting in last place of the AL Central at 13-26, Detroit is hoping to get a serviceable outing from right-hander Alex Faedo, who is 0-1 with a 2.87 ERA in his three-season starts.
Looking to continue his dominance against the Tigers in his career and give his team an excellent chance in winning will be the Cleveland ace himself in Shane Bieber, who has compiled a 1-2 record and a combined 3.72 earned-run average in his seven starts on the mound.
Here are the Tigers-Guardians MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Tigers-Guardians Odds
Detroit Tigers: +1.5 (-142)
Cleveland Guardians: -1.5 (+118)
Over: 7.5 (-118)
Under: 7.5 (-104)
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Why the Tigers Could Cover the Spread
Losers of three consecutive games and with a record of 4-13 out on the road, the Tigers are in the process of an absolute free fall. While this roster has some talent when you look at a couple of their arms and position players throughout the lineup, Detroit's season is already in the balance as they are currently 13 games under .500. If the Tigers cannot get it turned around soon, then this 2022 season will be all but lost.
The last thing Detroit wants to do at this point is look in the past, but when looking at yesterday's 6-1 loss to Cleveland and the past three games during the losing skid for that matter, it becomes obvious that the Tigers simply have to score more runs. With only three runs scored over the past 27 innings, Detroit is officially slumping at the plate. Not only is this a recent occurrence, but the Tigers are actually one of the worst hitting squads that major league baseball has to offer.
Through 39 games played, Detroit has generated the fewest amount of runs in the league with 106 and is collectively only slashing .219 over the course of the season.
The pitcher on record will be Alex Faedo for Detroit, and the fact that he has never faced Cleveland in his career may be a plus.
Without any experience against Faedo, the Tigers' best bet in this one is to keep Guardians hitters guessing at the plate and do limit the runs as much as possible. Detroit is not likely to score much against a pitcher with the caliber of Bieber, so the pitching game will be critical in covering the spread.
Why the Guardians Could Cover the Spread
At 17-19, the Guardians would surely like to generate more victories in the win column moving forward, but they have to feel good about occupying the third-place spot in the division and also only trailing the Twins by 4.5 games at the same time.
With a disappointing season in the books during 2021, Cleveland is trying to stay away from mediocrity and make a run at a playoff spot in 2022. The Guardians definitely looked the part of a complete team yesterday, as they succeeded in not kicking themselves in the foot and putting the pressure on the Tigers for the entirety of the evening.
However, with a losing record at this moment in time, it has been the overall team ERA at 4.01 that has done them dirty. Despite this slight hiccup, Cleveland still possesses nine quality starts from starters and is allowing teams to hit only .228 off of them.
The most obvious reason that Cleveland could cover the spread in this Saturday night showdown is because of Bieber's track record versus Detroit. With a 6-2 record and a 2.28 ERA to boot in eight career starts, it appears that the Guardians' go-to-man has the Tigers' number.
The best part of Cleveland's brand of play has to come from at the plate, as the Guardians have score the twelfth most runs with 169 of them and are prone to spank a long ball here and there with a .395 slugging percentage. The most dangerous part of this lineup is their ability to withhold from striking out, as no team in baseball has struck out less than Cleveland. The Guardians are only getting called out on strikes 7.4 times per contest.
Final Tigers-Guardians Prediction & Pick
With notable names like Javier Baez, Jonathan Schoop, and Spencer Torkelson all greatly underperforming on the season, there are no good reasons to put your faith in the slumping Tigers in this one. The safe bet is to hammer the Guardians at home, as they should have their way with Detroit as they did on Friday night in the 6-1 victory.
Final Tigers-Guardians Pick: Guardians -1.5 (+118)
