What has happened to the Detroit Tigers? The once best in all of baseball have lost 7 of their last 8 and over that span they have produced just 20 runs. In last night’s Game 1 of their 3-game set with the Pittsburgh Pirates they were blanked 3-0, but we will give them a pass in that one due to the fact that the Bucs had Paul Skenes on the hill. Even with this recent slump, Detroit still has the second-best record in all of baseball at 60-41 and should bounce back tonight at PNC Park. Casey Mize will get the start for Detroit. Mize is finally living up to the Tigers’ expectations, at 9-3 with a 3.15 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. The Pirates are expected to counter with Mitch Keller. He comes in at 3-10 with a 3.48 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP but has been in the zone over his last 3 starts, going 1-0 with an ERA of only 1.37 and a WHIP of 0.76. Pittsburgh scores the fewest runs in the majors so Mize should keep them in check. The Tigers have the edge in runs scored, run differential, batting average, hits, homers, and are the better team, by far, on the field tonight.
TONIGHT’S PICK: DETROIT TIGERS