The Detroit Tigers (34-45) will go for a split in their four-game series with the Texas Rangers (49-31) on Thursday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. ET from Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
The Rangers are -180 moneyline favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook, making the Tigers +155 underdogs with the over/under set at 9.5.
Tigers-Rangers picks: Thursday, June 29
Injury report
Tigers
Day to day: RP Trey Wingenter (biceps), SP Beau Brieske (elbow)
Out: SP Matthew Boyd (elbow), SP Spencer Turnbull (neck), RP Will Vest (leg), SP Alex Faedo (finger), SP Eduardo Rodriguez (finger), SP Tarik Skubal (elbow), CF Riley Greene (lower leg), LF Akil Baddoo (quadriceps), LF Austin Meadows (personal), SP Casey Mize (elbow)
Rangers
Day to day: SP Glenn Otto (lat), DH Brad Miller (oblique)
Out: RP Jose Leclerc (ankle), SP Jacob deGrom (elbow), SP Jake Odorizzi (shoulder), RP Brett Martin (shoulder)
Starting pitchers
Reese Olson vs. Jon Gray
Reese Olson (1-2, 4.74 ERA) will make his sixth career appearance and fifth start in his rookie season. The 23-year-old put together a strong outing over the weekend when he allowed one run on four hits and a walk with nine strikeouts over 5.1 innings of work in a win over the Minnesota Twins.
Jon Gray (6-3, 2.89 ERA) will make his 15th start of the season, and he’s been tremendous in 2023. Coming off a poor outing, he came back to allow just one run on three hits and two walks with four strikeouts over five innings in a loss to the New York Yankees on Saturday.
Over/Under pick
The Tigers rank 29th in OPS (.659), and this is a lineup Gray should be able to control. On the other side, Texas leads the league in runs per game (6.0) against a young pitcher, but let’s go with this total to fall below double digits.
Pick: Under 9.5
Moneyline pick
This is about as big of an offensive mismatch as you’ll see in the MLB, and it’s tough to have much faith in the Tigers to be able to out-hit the Rangers in this spot. Don’t overthink it and take one of the top offenses against one of the worst offenses.
Pick: Rangers