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The Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians square off on Friday with first pitch set for 7:10. The game takes place at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. The starting pitching matchup will feature the Tigers’ Drew Hutchison and the Guardians’ Zach Plesac.
The Tigers (37-53) are hitting a little better now compared to their ice-cold start to the season, but their .621 team OPS still ranks 29th in the league. Jonathan Schoop is hitting .358 over his previous 14 games, and double-play partner Javier Baez has gone deep six times in the past month. Hutchison has been stretched out as a starter and has given up just three runs in two starts this month. He defeated Cleveland on July 5, allowing one run over five frames.
Since taking sole possession of the AL Central lead on June 22, the Guardians (44-44) have lost 16 of the last 24 games. In 16 of those 24 games. they’ve scored three or fewer runs. However, Thursday was a bright spot as they opened this series with a 4-0 victory. Jose Ramirez has nine RBIs in three wins against Detroit this year, including an RBI single last night. Amed Rosario is 13-for-28 over the past seven games, with six runs and three RBI. He is batting a major-league best .410 at home since the start of June. Plesac was solid in June (2.10 ERA), but he hasn’t quite carried that success into July. He allowed four runs in five innings his last time out, and lost to the Tigers on July 4. He didn’t pitch all that poorly that day, however (6 IP, 2 runs).
Tigers vs. Guardians
Pitchers: Drew Hutchison vs. Zach Plesac
First pitch: 7:10 p.m. ET
Tigers local broadcast: Bally Sports Detroit
Guardians local broadcast: Bally Sports Great Lakes
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)
Odds, picks & predictions
Run Line: Guardians -1.5 (+115)
Run total: 8.5
Moneyline odds: Guardians -190, Tigers +160
Moneyline pick: Guardians -190
Although Hutchison has done a good job at run prevention recently, he hardly misses any bats (seven strikeouts in 19.2 IP as a starter this season). That will come back to haunt him at some point. Especially against Ramirez, who has owned Hutchison in a small sample size. Plesac is the better pitcher, and it feels pretty safe to take Cleveland at home here.
Player prop pick: Jose Ramirez OVER 1.5 total bases (+110)
Ramirez is 4-for-8 in his career against Hutchison with three extra-base hits. He’s been in a slump over the past few weeks, but that may not matter when you see a pitcher as well as J-Ram seems to see this Tigers’ righty.
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