The Tigers call on RHP Spencer Turnbull who returns from the team’s Covid watch as they host the Pirates and RHP Mitch Keller (1-2) in the Motor City. The Pirates have struggled on the road in ‘21 so far and are fighting to stay out of last place in the NL Central. A home game is a good enough advantage for the Tigers and facing a struggling Pirates pitcher, I like the Tigers to win this one.
They say you can’t win a pennant in April but you sure can lose one, and if Pittsburgh and Detroit hope to win one (or even make the playoffs) they’d better right their ships soon. As of Tuesday the Pirates were 7-9 and ½ game ahead of the Cubs for last place in the NL Central and the Tigers at 6-10 were in last place in the AL Central. In the bizarre season that was 2020, interleague play was much more prevalent as nearly half of MLB scheduled games were interleague. This year schedules are back to normal and the Pirates and Tigers are set for game two of their first interleague series of the season. Tigers first year manager A.J. Hinch has already started making moves to improve his teams chances. If you’re looking for MLB betting odds, you’ll want to know righty Spencer Turnbull has taken Tarik Skubal spot in the rotation in an attempt to strengthen his starting rotation’s late season output. Spencer who was 4-4 in 11 starts in 2020 with a 4.55 ERA comes off the Tigers Covid19 watch and Skubal will come out of the bullpen for now. Turnbull gets the start Wednesday and should be well rested. On offense Detroit is struggling. The Tigers do have 20 HR on the young season but other than catcher Will Ramos, 6 HR and 8 RBI, there is nothing outstanding. Pittsburgh is in another year of its latest rebuild effort. It has been since 2015 when the Pirates even sniffed the playoffs. Wednesday second year manager Derek Shelton will send out RHP Mitch Keller who has struggled in two of his three outings this season barely making it past 3 innings pitched in his 2 losses. Keller’s 8.74 ERA and 2.12 WHIP are definitely factors to consider if you’re playing this game with a NJ online sportsbook. The Pirates offensively are even less noteworthy than are the Tigers. Third baseman Colin Moran is hitting 2.98 with a .964 OPS and both lead the struggling Pittsburgh battery so far in 2021. As a team Pittsburgh is outside of the top 10 in major offensive categories this season. As far as playing the moneyline, this one isn’t a game that is too hard to figure. As of Tuesday Pittsburgh was 3-6 on the road in ‘21 and with Keller’s high ERA and the fact that Shelton is likely to go to his bullpen early, I expect to see the Tigers score some early runs and keep the lead in this one. My pick is Detroit.
