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The Pittsburgh Pirates finish their quick two-game series with the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday. It is time to continue our MLB odds series with a Pirates-Tigers prediction and pick.
The Pirates are coming into the series sitting at 25-29 on the year. They have won six of their last ten games overall, but still are in third place in the NL Central. Still, they did just take two of three from the Braves over the weekend. Meanwhile, the Tigers are 26-27 on the year, but in fourth place in the division. They have won just five of their last ten but did just win three of four and three straight over the Blue Jays.
The two will face off on Tuesday in the first game of the series. Jared Jones will be on the mound for the Pirates. He is 3-4 with a 3.05 ERA and a .97 WHIP. Tarik Skubal will take the mound for the Tigers. He is 6-1 with a 2.25 ERA and a .85 WHIP.
Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Pirates-Tigers Odds
Pittsburgh Pirates: 1-.5 (+176)
Moneyline: +102
Detroit Tigers: +1.5 (-215)
Moneyline: -120
Over: 7.5 (+102)
Under: 7.5 (-124)
How to Watch Pirates vs. Tigers
Time: 1:10 PM ET/ 10:10 AM PT
TV: SNP/BIDET
Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)
Why The Pirates Will Cover The Spread/Win
The Pirates are 16th in team ERA while sitting 15th in WHIP and 17th in opponent batting average. Rookie phenom Paul Skenes will be on the mound in this one. He is 1-0 on the year with a 2.25 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. Skenes also has 21 strikeouts this year. He has three starts now in his career. In his first start it was just four innings of work, allowing three runs, but striking out seven. Since then, Skenes has allowed just one run and six hits in 12 innings of work, and stricken out 14 batters.
The Pirates are 22nd in the majors in runs scored while sitting 25th in batting average, 25th in on-base percentage, and 27th in slugging percentage. Bryan Reynolds has led the way. He is hitting .263 on the year with a .339 on-base percentage. He has 12 doubles, a triple, and seven home runs. This has led to 28 RBIs and 20 runs scored. Further, he has stolen four bases. Connor Joe has also been solid. He is hitting .280 on the year with a .339 on-base percentage. Joe has 12 doubles and six home runs leading to 22 RBIs. He also leads the team with 29 runs scored.
Oneil Cruz leads the team in homeruns. He has hit .247 on the year with a .302 on-base percentage. Cruz also has seven home runs and 19 RBIs, while scoring 21 times. Meanwhile, Andrew McCutchen continues to produce. McCutchen is hitting just .226 but has a .332 on-base percentage. He has seven home runs and 14 RBIs while scoring 24 runs this year.
Why The Tigers Will Cover The Spread/Win
Tigers pitching is tenth in team ERA while sitting eighth in WHIP and 13th in opponent batting average. Jack Flaherty will be on the mound for the Tigers in this one. He is 1-4 with a 3.84 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. Flaherty has given up between two and three runs while going between six and 6.2 innings in each of his last four starts. While he has been pitching fairly well, the Tigers have just one win in his last five starts overall. Current members of the Pirates have 62 career at-bats against Flaherty. They are hitting .226 against Flaherty with two home runs and seven RBIs.
The Tigers are 18th in the majors in runs scored, while sitting 17th in batting average, 21st in base percentage, and 20th in slugging. Kerry Carpenter has been great this year. He is hitting .283 on the year with a .342 on-base percentage. He has ten doubles, four triples, and eight home runs this year. This has led to a team having 29 RBIs. Further, he has scored 21 times. Joining him in driving in runs this year is Javier Baez. Baez is hitting just .203 on the year, with a .228 on-base percentage. He has nine doubles and a home run, leading to 23 RBIs. He has also stolen six bases and scored 13 times.
Riley Greene continues to score a ton of runs. He is hitting .230 on the year with a .333 on-base percentage. He has nine doubles, a triple, and nine home runs. This has led to 20 RBIs. Further, he has scored 33 times this year. Rounding out the top producers this year is Mark Canha. He is hitting .224 this year but with a .360 on-base percentage. He has ten doubles and six home runs, leading to 22 RBIs and 26 runs scored.
Final Pirates-Tigers Prediction & Pick
This is another great pitching match-up in this series. There will be plenty of strike-outs in this one as well. Jack Flaherty is top ten in the majors in strikeouts. Paul Skeenes has also been striking out a ton of batters. Still, the Pirates have been better in run support of Skenes than the Tigers have been with Flaherty. Take the Pirates in this one.
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Final Pirates-Tigers Prediction & Pick: Pirates ML (+102)
