Tigers at Red Sox: What Bettors Need to Know
By Covers.com
Detroit Tigers at Boston Red Sox (-115, 7)
The host Boston Red Sox are one victory away from reaching the World Series for the first time since 2007 and will have to defeat either Max Scherzer or Justin Verlander to get there. Boston has a 3-2 lead over the Detroit Tigers in the American League Championship Series and Scherzer, the probable AL Cy Young Award winner, will attempt to even the series on Saturday. Verlander would start Game 7 on Sunday if the Red Sox don’t wrap up the series in six games.
Detroit third baseman Miguel Cabrera isn’t displaying his MVP-caliber form due to groin and abdominal injuries and first baseman Prince Fielder has played 17 consecutive postseason games without an RBI. “We have to go to Fenway and we have to fight hard to win a game,” Cabrera said after the Tigers' 4-3 loss in Game 5 on Thursday. “If we do that, we have to keep fighting and get the next one.” Boston’s Mike Napoli has been a force with a .375 average and two homers in the series, while designated hitter David Ortiz is 2-for-19 – with one of the hits being his memorable game-tying grand slam in Game 2 that saved the Red Sox from falling into an 0-2 hole.
WEATHER: Temperatures will be in the low-60s and wind will blow out to left field at 11 mph.
PITCHING MATCHUP: Tigers RH Max Scherzer (0-0, 1.29 ERA) vs. Red Sox RH Clay Buchholz (0-0, 7.94)
Scherzer dominated Boston hitters in Game 2, striking out 13 and allowing one run and two hits in seven innings. He departed with a 5-1 lead after 108 pitches before a bullpen meltdown helped the Red Sox rally for an improbable victory. One of Scherzer’s three regular-season losses came at Fenway Park when he allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings on Sept. 3.
Buchholz began strongly in Game 2 before wilting - giving up five runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. The Tigers torched him for four runs in the sixth with four extra-base hits, including homers by Cabrera and Alex Avila. Buchholz has a 6.17 ERA and has been touched for three homers in 11 2/3 innings this postseason.
TRENDS:
* Over is 7-1-1 in Scherzer's last nine starts vs. Red Sox.
* Red Sox are 8-1 in Buchholz's last nine starts with 5 days of rest.
* Red Sox are 6-1 in Buchholz's last seven starts vs. Tigers.
UMPIRE TRENDS - Dan Iassogna:
* Road team is 9-1 in Iassogna's last 10 games behind home plate.
* Under is 20-6-3 in Iassogna's last 29 games behind home plate.
* Red Sox are 1-5 in their last six games with Iassogna behind home plate.
WALK-OFFS:
1. Four of the five games have been decided by one run, which is one shy of the record for a league championship series - set by the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves in the 1999 NLCS.
2. Avila (knee) left Game 5 two innings after a collision at home plate and is questionable for Saturday’s contest.
3. Boston RHP Koji Uehara retired all five batters for his second save of the series. He has struck out seven in five scoreless innings in the ALCS.
DETROIT (98 - 74) at BOSTON (103 - 68) - 4:35 PM
MAX SCHERZER (R) vs. CLAY BUCHHOLZ (R)
Top Trends for this game.
DETROIT is 98-74 (-12.6 Units) against the money line in all games this season.
DETROIT is 7-14 (-12.9 Units) against the money line when the total is 7 or less this season.
DETROIT is 127-196 (-54.5 Units) against the money line as a road underdog of +100 to +125 since 1997.
DETROIT is 86-88 (-21.9 Units) against the money line in road games over the last 2 seasons.
DETROIT is 11-19 (-14.2 Units) against the money line on the road when the total is 7 or less over the last 2 seasons.
DETROIT is 33-30 (-14.9 Units) against the money line in day games this season.
DETROIT is 94-71 (-13.2 Units) against the money line in games played on a grass field this season.
BOSTON is 103-68 (+21.4 Units) against the money line in all games this season.
BOSTON is 56-29 (+14.1 Units) against the money line in home games this season.
BOSTON is 30-15 (+11.0 Units) against the money line in day games this season.
BOSTON is 91-60 (+16.3 Units) against the money line in games played on a grass field this season.
BOSTON is 68-46 (+13.4 Units) against the money line against right-handed starters this season.
BUCHHOLZ is 15-3 (+11.2 Units) against the money line in all games this season.
BUCHHOLZ is 13-2 (+9.9 Units) against the money line in games played on a grass field this season.
SCHERZER is 26-8 (+13.4 Units) against the money line in all games this season.
SCHERZER is 66-34 (+21.3 Units) against the money line in games played on a grass field over the last 2 seasons.
BOSTON is 470-349 (-55.5 Units) against the money line in home games after a win since 1997.
BOSTON is 49-51 (-15.0 Units) against the money line in home games when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
BOSTON is 186-180 (-46.0 Units) against the money line in home games when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season since 1997.
Head-to-Head Series History
BOSTON is 6-6 (-0.2 Units) against DETROIT this season
6 of 11 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL this season . (Over=+0.6 Units)
MAX SCHERZER vs. BOSTON since 1997
SCHERZER is 2-4 when starting against BOSTON with an ERA of 6.20 and a WHIP of 1.480.
His team's record is 3-6 (-2.9 units) in these starts. The OVER is 7-1. (+6.0 units)
CLAY BUCHHOLZ vs. DETROIT since 1997
BUCHHOLZ is 2-1 when starting against DETROIT with an ERA of 4.18 and a WHIP of 1.268.
His team's record is 6-3 (+3.0 units) in these starts. The UNDER is 4-4. (-0.4 units)
DETROIT vs. BOSTON
Detroit is 4-12 SU in its last 16 games when playing on the road against Boston
The total has gone OVER in 14 of Detroit's last 21 games when playing Boston
The total has gone OVER in 14 of Boston's last 21 games when playing Detroit
Boston is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games
Detroit at Boston
Scherzer: Detroit 10-16 SU after 2 straight games with no home runs
Buchholz: 12-2 TSR when the total is 7 to 8.5
StatFox Super Situations
MLB DETROIT at BOSTON
Play Against - Road underdogs with a money line of +100 or higher (DETROIT) with an average bullpen whose ERA is 3.75 to 4.50 on the season against opponent with a starting pitcher whose ERA is 3.20 or better on the season (AL) 220-89 over the last 5 seasons. ( 71.2% 71.7 units ) 43-28 this year. ( 60.6% -0.3 units )
StatFox Situational Power Trends
MLB DETROIT at BOSTON
BOSTON is 78-40 (+20.7 Units) against the money line as a favorite of -110 or higher this season. The average score was: BOSTON (5.7) , OPPONENT (4.0)
Tigers - Red Sox
Scherzer is 3-0, 1.57 in his last four outings; five of his last seven starts stayed under the total. He is 2-1, 2.14 against the Red Sox this season.
Buchholz is 1-1, 5.11 in his last four starts; four of his last five starts went over the total. He allowed fivwe runs in 5.2 IP in his only '13 start vs Detroit.
Boston won six of its last nine games, four of last five at home; over is 10-3-1 in their last fourteen games.
Detroit lost three of its last four games; they're 3-5 in last eight road games. 6-6 vs Boston this year, 2-3 at Fenway.
Armadillosports.com