It is the final game of a three-game set between the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies. It's time to continue our MLB odds series with a Tigers-Phillies prediction, pick, and how to watch.
The Tigers struggled to score last night again. Two nights ago it was seven innings without getting a hit against Aaron Nola until they broke through in the seventh. They scored three runs after a walk, an error, and Nick Maton's three-run home run. Last night, it was just two hits against the Phillies Taijuan Walkers without scoring a run. They would get one more hit in the eighth, but they failed to score again, falling 1-0. All of the offense came early for the Phillies last night. On the fifth pitch of the bottom of the first, Kyle Schwarber hit a home run to right center field to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. It would be only two more hits, and no walks for the Phillies the rest of the night, but the one run was enough for them to get the win.
Here are the Tigers-Phillies MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Tigers-Phillies Odds
Detroit Tigers: +1.5 (+114)
Philadelphia Phillies: -1.5 (-137)
Over: 9.5 (+100)
Under: 9.5 (-122)
How To Watch Tigers vs. Phillies
TV: BSDET/NBCSP
Stream: MLB.TV
Time: 6:05 PM ET/ 3:05 PM PT
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Tigers Could Cover The Spread
The Tigers are dead last in the majors in scoring this year, with just 210 runs on the year. This has been a theme for the Tigers over the last six games. In the last six games, the Tigers have scored just nine runs while being shut out twice. For the most part, pitching has been solid though. The pitching staff has given up three or fewer runs in four of the last six games. Still, they have just one win in that time frame, and just three wins in their last ten games.
Over the last six games, the Tigers have just eight RBIs. Three of those came in one swing from Nick Maton. He is hitting just .167 over the last week, but his OBP is sitting at .286 as he has shown some patience at the plate. Spencer Torkelson is the only other person in the last week to have more than one RBI. He has two, aided by a home run and four hits. Like Maton, he is not hitting well. He is hitting just .182 over the last week. Hitting has been a struggle as of late. Only Miguel Cabrera is hitting over .250 in the last week, and that is primarily because he has played in just three games with seven at-bats.
It will be Reese Olson going to the mound for the Tigers today. He made his only start of the year last Friday. It was the first start of his major league career, and it was not bad. In five innings, he gave up just two hits and a walk but did give up two runs. Those two runs were enough for him to take the loss, and now Olson will be looking to get the first win of his career.
Why The Phillies Could Cover The Spread
For Kyle Schwarber it was his 16th home run of the season last night. Schwarber is tied for 6th in the majors in home runs now, and when he is making contact, he has been hitting with good power. The problem has been making contact. He has struck out already nine times this month in just six games. He has strikeouts in his last 12 games, with six of them being multi-strike-out games. In the last month, he has been twice as likely to strike out than get a hit. Since the start of May, Schwarber has struck out 43 times. In the same period, he has just 16 hits. When he gets contact, it is good though. Ten of those 16 hits have been home runs while he has also had two doubles.
Nick Castellanos has been hot as of late as well. He had his five-game hitting streak snapped last night, but he is hitting .542 since the calendar turned to June. This is not just a new hot streak though. Castellanos is seventh in the majors with a .315 batting average on the season. He hits a little worse against right-handed pitching this year. He is hitting .310 against righties, but his power has been better against the righties. Castellanos has five of his seven home runs against righties while driving in 27 runs.
The Phillies send Zach Wheeler to the mound in this one. Two outings ago, Wheeler was nearly unhittable. He gave up just three hits in eight innings while striking out 12. Then last time out against the Nationals he went just 3.2 innings while giving up eight hits and seven runs. It was the best appearance of the year for Wheeler, followed directly by his worst. Most likely, this one will fall right in the middle. For most of the year, he has been going roughy six innings and giving up three or four runs.
Final Tigers-Phillies Prediction & Pick
This is a veteran lineup capable of putting up a fair amount of runs facing a rookie pitcher today. For as rough as the Phillies lineup has been at times this year, today will not be one of those days. Turner, Castellanos, Schwarber, and Harper will all get hits and this one could be a blowout.
Final Tigers-Phillies Prediction & Pick: Phillies -1.5 (-137)
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