The Rangers face the Tigers in Detroit! Our MLB odds series has our Rangers Tigers prediction, odds, and pick for Wednesday.
The Rangers have started their World Series defense with mixed results so far at 9-9. They have picked up where they left off last season behind the plate. They are once again a top-five batting average in the MLB as a team and then they are around the middle of the league in pitching ERA as a team. This offense is led by stars thanks to Adolis Garcia, Marcus Semien, and Corey Seager. This offense is loaded and was the biggest reason why the Rangers won it all last year. The pitching has taken a dip. Nathan Eovaldi has taken center stage on the mound this season, but there has not been much besides him so far on the season.
The Tigers have opened the season playing well with a 10-7 record. The offense has not shown up so far, but instead, the pitching has been one of the best in the entire MLB. The offense has been close to lifeless and ranks near dead last in the league in batting average. Riley Greene and Mark Canha have been able to stand out in a bad offense behind the plate. By contrast, the pitching currently ranks top five in the league in terms of team ERA. Their ace has been Tarik Skubal who has been nothing short of dominant for them so far to start the season.
Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Rangers-Tigers Odds
Texas Rangers: +1.5 (-176)
Moneyline: +120
Detroit Tigers: -1.5 (+146)
Moneyline: -142
Over: 7 (-115)
Under: 7 (-105)
How to Watch Rangers vs. Tigers
Time: 1:10 pm ET
TV: Bally Sports Southwest/Detroit
Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)
Why The Rangers Will Cover The Spread/Win
The Rangers are going with Dane Dunning to start on the mound. He's started out the year with a 2-1 record, a 4.50 ERA, and a 1.17 WHIP. Through 18 innings, he has allowed 12 hits, nine walkouts, and four home runs. He also has 17 strikeouts this season up to this point. He has appeared in three total games so far this season and the Rangers are 2-1 in those games. Last season, Dunning was decent with a 12-7 record, a 3.70 ERA, and a 1.26 WHIP. Dunning gets the start after struggling in his last time out where the team bailed him out, but this is a good matchup for him to get back on track against the Detroit offense.
The Rangers' offense has looked great to start the season. They are fourth in team batting average at .265 after finishing last season with a .263 batting average. The offense is led by sluggers in Adolis Garcia, Marcus Semien, and Corey Seager. Garcia has the best batting average and most home runs at .303 and four so far. Semien leads the way with RBI at 16 and then total hits at 21, while Seager leads with an OBP of .377. The Rangers offense can match up with anyone in the MLB.
Why The Tigers Will Cover The Spread/Win
The Tigers are putting Tarik Skubal on the mound where he has a 2-0 record, a 2.08 ERA, and a 0.75 WHIP. Through 17.1 innings, Skubal has allowed nine hits, four walks, and two home runs. The Tigers are 3-0 in the three games that he's appeared in this season and he's given up four hits in only one appearance. Last season, Skubal had a 7-3 record, a 2.80 ERA, and 0.90 WHIP. Skubal needs to be massive for the Tigers in this spot. The Rangers are so good behind the plate and he needs to be close to perfect against that offense.
The offense for the Tigers has struggled this season. The Tigers are 26th in the MLB in team batting average at .215 after having a team batting average of .236 last season where they finished 27th in the MLB, so not much has changed from year to year. Mark Canha, Riley Greene, and Gio Urshela are the notables that make noise on this offense. Canha has the most home runs at three and the most RBI at eight, while Riley Greene leads the way at OBP at .356. Gio Urshela rounds this out by leading in batting average at .300 and then in total hits at 15.
Final Rangers-Tigers Prediction & Pick
The Tigers have been a weird team so far with the big difference between their bats and their pitching staff. Skubal is a solid ace and will welcome the challenge of the Rangers offense, but the issue is Detroit's offense. The Tigers have done nothing but struggle as a team to find any sort of offense and Dane Dunning is capable of shutting an already bad offense down. This is going to be close because of Skubal, but expect the Rangers to score just enough points to win a close game.
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Final Rangers-Tigers Prediction & Pick: Rangers +1.5
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