The Tigers come home furious after dropping Game 2 and ready to flex against a floundering Athletics club that can’t keep the ball in the park. Comerica is their playground, Riley Greene is scorching, and this lineup smells blood. With Oakland stumbling through another rough road trip and a shaky left-hander on the mound, Detroit’s set to jump early, punish mistakes, and send a loud message that this series, like most other in 2025, is theirs for the taking. Below, I’ve got my preview, prediction, and best bet for this Thursday baseball game between the Tigers and the Athletics.
Here’s how I’ll play it. I’ll be pumping out these predictions for individual games all season, with plenty of coverage here on DraftKings Network. Follow my handle @dansby_edits for more betting plays.
Tigers vs. Athletics prediction, preview
It’s impossible to look at this game and not feel Detroit is ready to pounce. They return home at 27-13 in their park, scoring 5.03 runs per game and slugging .422. Riley Greene’s been a monster, sporting a .536 slugging percentage and riding a scorching stretch where he’s 11-for-18 with a double and two homers across his last five. Spencer Torkelson (.463 slugging) and Kerry Carpenter (.465 slugging) give this lineup serious muscle. They face Jeffrey Springs, who’s logged a pedestrian 4.24 ERA and a mere 19.5% strikeout rate. Springs’ 1.23 WHIP looks OK on paper, but his underlying metrics scream trouble against a lineup that ranks top-five in slugging and top-10 in OPS.
Oakland comes in last in the AL West at 33-49 with a battered pitching staff allowing a 5.41 ERA. They’ve yielded a staggering .272 opponent average and rank 29th in FIP. Even if Springs goes five strong, that bullpen is going to leak runs. Detroit thrives against this kind of pitching profile, especially at Comerica. The Athletics rank bottom-four in xFIP and win just around 22.7% of their games as +136 or longer underdogs. Even Brent Rooker and Tyler Soderstrom can’t save them when the mound keeps crumbling. Detroit has punished underwhelming lefties all year—they hit .254 as a team and slug north of .420 at home—and they face a unit that’s 29th in walk rate and 29th in ERA.
Enns making his first big-league appearance since 2021 might feel like a curveball, but his Triple-A numbers jump off the page. A 2.89 ERA, 9.1 K/9, and just 1.93 BB/9 across 14 starts show the stuff and command are there. Even if he only tosses three or four innings, Detroit’s pen (top-10 in ERA and WHIP at home) can slam the door. The Athletics’ anemic offense, generating just 4.2 runs per game with a 21st-ranked wRC+, will struggle to do damage against fresh arms with the wind blowing in at Comerica. Ten of Detroit’s last eleven games have soared over the total, but this game is different with the wind knocking down balls and Oakland’s contact issues.
Athletics vs. Tigers pick, best bet
This is a textbook fade of an overmatched road team in a day game. The Tigers have covered the run line in four of their last five home games after losses and sit 6-1 ATS at home in this same bounce-back spot. The Athletics have failed to cover in four of their last five day games against AL Central clubs with winning records and are 7-11 ATS on the road against winning teams. Given Springs’ regression and Oakland’s bottom-feeding bullpen, Detroit will jump on this early and often.
That wind, that matchup, and those numbers make this an easy call. Detroit -1.5 (+140) is way too juicy to pass up. They’re the hotter offense with a deeper bullpen and face a lefty whose stuff isn’t missing bats. The Tigers roll in a comfortable win, and I’m riding them to cover without hesitation.
Best bet: Tigers -1.5 (+140) vs. Athletics
Let’s see just how good this Enns kid is—tail it with me in the DKN Betting Group here!
