Tigers vs. Pirates Pick
Who has the edge when a pair of losing teams collide tonight at 7:05PM ET, as the Pittsburgh Pirates host the Detroit Tigers?
According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, the Pirates are the clear favorite today, as Pittsburgh is getting odds of -155 to win. Detroit is listed with a money line of +145 to prevail, while the over/under total has been set at 9 runs. The Tigers won three of four meetings with the Pirates last season.
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The pitching matchup today has Jordan Zimmerman (7-8, 5.35 ERA) on the mound for the Tigers to face Trevor Williams (4-4, 4.47) of the Pirates. Williams he been pitching pretty well lately, allowing two runs or less in five of his last seven starts. On the year he has 71 strikeouts with 29 walks and a 1.33 WHIP. Zimmerman is actually coming off a 7-inning, shutout performance against the Yankees. He has struggled most of the season though, posting 83 strikeouts with 34 walks and a 1.47 WHIP.
The Tigers were rolling along, but dropped back-to-back games to the Orioles to end the weekend. Detroit is now 51-59 overall and 24-34 on the road. Detroit is putting up 4.83 runs per game while allowing 5.04 per contest. The Tigers are being led this season by Justin Upton, who has 32 doubles, 21 home runs and 78 RBI. Nicholas Castellanos has added 16 home runs and 58 RBI.
The Pirates have won three of their last four, including a weekend series win over the Padres. Pittsburgh is now 54-57 on the season and 30-26 at home. The Pirates are putting up just 4.25 runs per game while giving up 4.50 per contest. Pittsburgh has been led by Andrew McCutchen, who has 20 doubles with 22 home runs and 69 RBI. Josh Harrison is adding 20 doubles with 12 home runs and 37 RBI.
Zimmerman had a rare strong outing and I don’t see him matching that effort today. Williams has shown more consistency on the mound as of late and should put up a competitive effort. The Pittsburgh bullpen also has a lot better numbers than what Detroit has, so if the game is close, you can’t really count on Detroit to grind it out on the mound.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: PITTSBURGH PIRATES -155