It's time to continue our MLB odds series with a Yankees-Tigers prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Yankees-Tigers from Williamsport, Pa., in a special Sunday Night Baseball game at the home of the Little League World Series. The Tigers are the designated home team, but this is for all intents and purposes a neutral-site game. It is not in Detroit.
The New York Yankees are fortunate that their ancient rivals, the Boston Red Sox, have won consecutive games against the Baltimore Orioles. The O's couldn't take advantage of the Yankees' loss to the Tigers on Saturday. The Yankees and Orioles both looked awesome through the month of June, but they have since treaded water and have played average baseball for the better part of the past seven weeks. Will the American League East be decided by the team which goes on a big, late winning streak, or the team which goes on a long, late losing skid? Right now, it feels like the latter. This division will be lost more than won. One team will falter while the other manages to avoid a big losing slide.
The Detroit Tigers are one of several MLB teams which has wasted good pitching in 2024. They have good, young arms plus an ace in Tarik Skubal, but their bats — as has been the case the previous few seasons — just didn't show up often enough. The Tigers have to remake their batting order in the offseason in order to have a real chance in the deep American League Central. Right now they are in fourth place, not remotely close to third place or to any AL wild card spot.
Yankees-Tigers Projected Starters
Marcus Stroman vs. Tarik Skubal
Marcus Stroman (8-6) has a 4.01 ERA. Yankee fans have watched Marcus Stroman go through an up and down season, but his four-run ERA is lower than a number of other pitchers who have had similar seasons this year. Stroman is not inspiring maximum confidence among Yankee fans for October, but one thing that has to be said about him is that he has done a generally good job of pitching out of trouble. You'll notice that his walk-strikeout ratio in road starts this season is atrocious. The big problem with Stroman is that he allows way too many baserunners. He doesn't take the ball and dominate, and that is a legitimate source of frustration for the team and its front office. However, with all that traffic on the bases, Stroman has limited damage. His season could easily be a lot worse than what it is, a metaphor for a player on a team competing in a division race where both sides — the Yankees and Orioles — have notable limitations in their starting rotations and are often trying to perform damage control. It's fitting in a larger sense.
Last Start: Sunday, August 11 versus the Texas Rangers: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 HR, 3 BB, 1 K
2024 Road Splits: 11 starts, 57 1/3 IP, 58 H, 24 R, 3 HR, 28 BB, 28 K
Tarik Skubal (14-4) has a 2.53 ERA. Here is your American League Cy Young frontrunner. Skubal is a big dog. He shuts down opponents more than anyone else in baseball. Chris Sale and Blake Snell might be the two hottest pitchers in the sport at the moment, but Skubal has been doing this the whole season and has the intimidation factor where just a few early runs scored by the Tigers make it seem that the game is nearly over. Skubal carries himself like an ace. His serious, no-nonsense attitude enables him to brush off adversity and respond to challenges, but for the most part, it ensures he doesn't wobble the way other pitchers do. His consistency is hard to avoid noticing.
Last Start: Tuesday, August 13 versus the Seattle Mariners: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 HR, 1 BB, 9 K
2024 Home Splits: 12 starts, 77 IP, 50 H, 22 R, 5 HR, 18 BB, 91 K
Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Yankees-Tigers Odds
New York Yankees: +1.5 (-205)
Moneyline: +102
Detroit Tigers: -1.5 (+168)
Moneyline: -120
Over: 7.5 (-122)
Under: 7.5 (+100)
How to Watch Yankees vs. Tigers
Time: 7:10 p.m. ET/4:10 p.m. PT
TV: ESPN
Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)
Why The Yankees Will Cover The Spread/Win
The Yankees got shut out on Saturday. Surely they will swing the bats better on Sunday.
Why The Tigers Will Cover The Spread/Win
Tarik Skubal will shut down the Yankees.
Final Yankees-Tigers Prediction & Pick
Pass on this one. The Yankees are better but the Tigers have Skubal.
Click here for more betting news and predictions
Final Yankees-Tigers Prediction & Pick: Yankees moneyline