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The Cleveland Guardians (56-33) and Detroit Tigers (43-48) play the 2nd contest of a 4-game series Tuesday. First pitch from Comerica Park is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET. Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Guardians vs. Tigers odds and make our expert MLB picks and predictions for the best bets.
Season series: Tied 2-2
The Guardians were shut out in a pitcher’s duel in Monday’s series opener, falling 1-0 as +134 favorites. Cleveland had just 3 hits, all singles, while Detroit managed 7 hits. Tigers C Jake Rogers led off the bottom of the 8th inning with a double. Three batters later, he broke a 0-0 tie when he scored on Cleveland SS Brayan Rocchio’s fielding error.
It was Cleveland’s 1st shutout loss since June 15 in Toronto, and it’s the 6th time it has been blanked this season, including 4 times on the road.
The Tigers have won 4 consecutive games, their most since opening the season with 5 straight victories between May 28-April 4. It was Detroit’s 1st shutout win since blanking the Red Sox in Boston 5-0 May 30. The Tigers have 6 shutout victories, including 2 at home.
Guardians at Tigers projected starters
RHP Ben Lively vs. RHP Kenta Maeda
Lively (8-4, 3.14 ERA) makes his 15th start. He has a 1.16 WHIP, 2.6 BB/9 and 7.8 K/9 in 77 1/3 innings.
- Last start: Win, 6 IP, 3 ER, 6 H (1 HR), 1 BB, 6 K in 8-4 home victory vs. Chicago White Sox Thursday
- 2024 road splits: 3-4, 3.64 ERA (42 IP, 17 ER), 1.29 WHIP, .248 opponents’ batting average (OBA), 7.3 K/9 in 8 starts
- Career vs. Tigers: 0-0, 5.06 ERA (5 1/3 IP, 3 ER), 0.94 WHIP, 6.8 K/9 in 2 relief appearances — last outing in 2023
Maeda (2-5, 6.71 ERA) makes his 16th start. He has a 1.52 WHIP, 3.1 BB/9 and 6.9 K/9 in 63 innings.
- Last start: Loss, 3 2/3 IP, 9 ER, 9 H (1 HR), 3 BB, 3 K in 12-3 setback in 7 innings at Minnesota Twins Thursday
- 2024 home splits: 2-2, 3.71 ERA (34 IP, 14 ER), 1.21 WHIP, .242 OBA, 6.9 K/9 in 7 starts
- Career vs. Guardians: 3-1, 5.45 ERA (34 2/3 IP, 21 ER), 1.18 WHIP, 8.6 K/9 in 7 starts
- 2024 vs. Guardians: 1 road start, no-decision, 2 IP, 7 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 1 K in 11-7 victory May 7
Who’s going yard? Here’s a breakdown of today’s best home run props with our top picks. Include the BetMGM bonus code SBWIRE to score a $1,500 first-bet offer.
Guardians at Tigers odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 6:24 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Guardians -145 (bet $145 to win $100) | Tigers +120 (bet $100 to win $120)
- Run line (RL)/Against the spread (ATS): Guardians -1.5 (+110) | Tigers +1.5 (-135)
- Over/Under (O/U): 8.5 (O: -120 | U: +100)
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Guardians at Tigers picks and predictions
Prediction
Guardians 5, Tigers 4
Moneyline
The GUARDIANS (-145) look for the bounce back behind Lively, who has been rather consistent this season.
Lively turned in a quality start last time out against the White Sox July 4 when he recorded consecutive quality starts for the 1st time this season.
The Tigers (+120) have dropped the past 2 games after recording a shutout in the previous outing. In addition, Detroit is 0-7 in Maeda’s past 7 starting assignments.
Run line/Against the spread
The Tigers +1.5 (-135) aren’t priced out of line if you’d like a little bit of insurance in what should be a close game.
Detroit enters with 4 straight wins, but 2 of those games were decided by a single run. In fact, the Tigers have played in 4 1-run games across the previous 9 outings.
The Guardians have played in 3 consecutive games decided by a single run, winning 2 of those.
Over/Under
OVER 8.5 (-120) is the lean in the 2nd matchup of this series following the pitcher’s duel in the opener.
The Over is still 7-3 in the past 10 games for the Guardians despite Monday’s 1-0 loss. In the previous 5 shutout losses, Cleveland has hit the Over 4 times in the following outing.
For the Tigers, they’ve cashed the Over in all 5 games after a shutout victory in the previous contest.
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