Pick on the Moneyline for Tigers-Athletics on September 22

The Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics have both been out of the playoff race for awhile, but these teams are looking to build momentum for 2024 and beyond ad they hook up in Oakland on Friday.

Detroit Tigers (-120, 8) vs. Oakland Athletics

The Tigers are giving pitcher Sawyer Gipson-Long his third career start after posting a respectable 4.33 ERA with 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings in the minor leagues this season and has been solid through his first two starts.

Gipson-Long has led the team to victory in both of his starts, going five innings in each start with three total runs allowed with 16 strikeouts across his 10 total innings.

Of benefit to Gipson-Long and the Tigers bullpen is facing an Oakland lineup that is last in the league in runs per game and batting average with their numbers being worse at home than on the road.

The Athletics are notching 3.9 runs per game with a .232 batting average on the road while averaging 3.3 runs per game with a .216 batting average at home.

On the mound for Oakland is Ken Waldichuk, who’s spent time as both a starter and as a reliever this season, posting a 5.40 ERA and 5.33 fielding independent with 1.5 home runs and 4.7 walks per nine innings surrendered.

Entering the series, the Tigers had shown recent improvement on offense, ranking overall for the season in runs per game with 4.0, but averaged 4.6 runs per game in their first 18 games in September, ranking 16th in the league fir the month.

With both bullpens being nearly equal since July began in terms of ERA, the Athletics lack of offense coupled with Gipson-Long’s early promise coupled with motivation with looking to make an impression for the 2024 season will get the Tigers to a win on Friday.

The Play: Tigers -120