Saturday MLB Free Pick
(The Spread) – The Detroit Tigers go for a fifth consecutive victory Saturday night and a third in a row over the host Oakland A’s at 9:05PM EST.
Oddsmakers from online sports book SBGGLOBAL.com have made the Tigers a -120 favorite, while the Athletics are a +110 underdog. The over-under for the game is set at 6.5.
Detroit, which struggled in its first three series this season, is finally hitting its stride with two wins at home over Texas and another two against Oakland to begin a west coast swing. Tonight, the Tigers will hand the ball to ace Justin Verlander (1-1, 3.13 ERA) while Oakland counters with left-handed Dallas Braden (0-1, 4.15 ERA).
Verlander is coming off a 2-0 loss against the Rangers in which he went all eight innings, but due to bad luck with Detroit’s offensive woes he was saddled with the loss. It is the last Tigers defeat as they have since responded with the four straight wins. Oakland, on the other hand, had won four of its previous five on the road before returning home and proceeding to lose the two in a row.
MLB Free Pick: It is very difficult to go against Verlander and the Tigers here for a variety of reasons. The only reason I can see to not take Verlander is that is road splits compared to those at home are not very pretty. Even so, he was solid in his first two road starts this season at New York and Baltimore while Oakland’s offense is supbar to both of those ones. I think he will be sharp here and Detroit will eventually solve Braden, who has historically struggled in his career versus Detroit. According to MLB trends, Braden is 2-4 with a 6.75 ERA in eight career starts when pitching against the Tigers. My money is on Detroit here. Although it is tough to win consistently on the road and there is a bit of juice to pay here, I like the Tigers’ winning mindset right now.
SATURDAY MLB FREE PICK: DETROIT TIGERS -120
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