AL Central Leading Guardians Favored In Detroit Once Again
The Guardians vs Tigers Series Preview Favors Visiting Cleveland In Clash of AL Central Rivals
Bibee-Olson Pitching Matchup Could Send Cleveland-Detroit Series Finale to Land Under
When the Detroit Tigers looked to be a more consistent team during the 2024 season, posting a record three games under .500 both at home and on the road wasn’t what Detroit had in mind. Now the Tigers welcome the American League-leading Cleveland Guardians to town for a three-game series.
The Guardian vs Tigers series preview has Cleveland favored in the series opener as Detroit has been favored at home just four times against the Guardians since the start of the 2017 season.
Cleveland won a pair of one-run games in the first series against the Tigers this season. Detroit won nine of the 13 games against Cleveland coming into the season. Just two of those games finished over the total.
The MLB betting odds have Cleveland priced at -145 to top the Tigers in Monday’s series opener, with +125 odds for the Tigers to win as the home underdog. The Guardians have +115 odds at -1.5 on the run line.
Despite having the second-best winning percentage in the majors, there are six teams with shorter odds of winning the World Series than Cleveland’s odds of +1800. Detroit is well back at +25000 in the championship odds.
Day/Time:
Location: Comerica Park, Detroit, MI
Records: Guardians 56-32/Tigers 42-48
Streaming: Bally Sports Great Lakes, Bally Sports Detroit. Monday’s game is also available on FS1.
Guardians vs Tigers Probable Starting Pitchers
- Monday: Gavin Williams (Guardians); Keider Montero (Tigers)
- Tuesday: Ben Lively (Guardians); Kenta Maeda (Tigers)
- Wednesday: Tanner Bibee (Guardians); Reese Olson (Tigers)
Guardians and Tigers May Save the Best For Last
With Detroit throwing rookie Keider Montero and Kenta Maeda in the first two baseball games of the series and Cleveland countering with Gavin Williams and Ben Lively, there could be changes for the hitters to have the upper hand.
It could be a different deal in the series finale.
While Detroit’s Reese Olson is just 3-8, he is 2-0 with a 2.50 ERA over his last four starts. He allowed one hit and two runs in six innings in his first start against Cleveland this season. Keep that in mind when it comes to the Guardians vs Tigers series preview.
Cleveland is 15-3 in games started by Bibee this season and that included a win back on May 8. Bibee has a 3.55 ERA since the start of June. He does have 46 strikeouts in 33 innings during that stretch.
Five of Cleveland’s last six games went over the total.
All or Nothing For the Tigers
Detroit ranks just 19th with a .234 batting average over the last 14 games but only the Baltimore Orioles have more home runs over that stretch than the 21 hit by the Tigers.
Colt Keith leads the way with four home runs while Riley Greene, Carson Kelly, Zack McKinstry, Justyn-Henry Malloy, and Matt Vierling have at least two home runs during that stretch. Could that factor into the Guardians vs Tigers series preview?
In the only win by the Tigers in the first series of the MLB season against the Guardians, Detroit had four doubles and two home runs.
Cleveland is tied for the second most home runs allowed during the same stretch.
Who’s Hot
- Alex Faedo, Detroit Tigers P: Faedo has given up nine hits and two runs with 10 strikeouts in 10.2 innings in his last eight games.
- Hunter Gaddis, Cleveland Guardians P: Gaddis has surrendered three hits and no runs with 18 strikeouts in 13 innings over his last 13 appearances.
- Colt Keith, Detroit Tigers 2B: Keith is 9-for-21 with four runs, three home runs, and five RBIs in his last five games.
- Josh Naylor, Cleveland Guardians 1B: Naylor is 8-for-28 with two doubles, one home run, five runs, and six RBIs over his last six games.
Who’s Not
- Mark Canha, Detroit Tigers OF: Canha has three hits and no runs over his last 34 at-bats.
- Kenta Maeda, Detroit Tigers P: Maeda allowed nine hits and nine runs with three walks while retiring just 11 batters in his last start.
- Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Guardians 3B: Ramirez is 4-for-25 with one extra-base hit and four strikeouts over his last six games.
- Gavin Williams, Cleveland Guardians P: Williams allowed seven hits and five runs in four innings in his 2024 debut.
Guardians vs Tigers Injury Update
Outfielder Will Brennan s pitchers James Karinchak, Trevor Stephan and former Tigers pitcher Matthew Boyd on the MLB injured list for the Guardians.
Outfielder Parker Meadows is questionable for Detroit after leaving the last game with a hamstring issue. Kerry Carpenter shortstop Javier Baez, and pitcher Casey Mize are out for the Tigers.
Guardians vs Tigers Betting Preview
Six of the last eight games between the Guardians and Tigers went under the total. Will that trend continue in the series opener with a pair of pitchers with ERAs over 6.00? Cleveland hit just .211 in the first series of the season against the Tigers. However, nine of the 20 hits went for extra bases. Andy Ibanez homered twice in the series for the Tigers.
When looking at the MLB scores, Cleveland is 35-16 as the favorite but just 11-10 as the road favorite. The Guardians have covered in just nine of 21 games when favored on the road with the Tigers 6-5 against the run line as the home underdog.
Cleveland has covered in 27 of 47 road games while the Tigers are 15-26 versus the run line at home.
Detroit has seen 18 of 41 home games land under the total.
The total is at 8.5 for the series opener. There is no chance of rain in the forecast for the series opener.
Detroit comes into the game winning four of the last five games. However, Cleveland is 12-6 over the last 18 games. Keep that in mind when considering MLB free picks.
For Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
