Tigers vs. Guardians Prediction and Odds for Saturday, May 21 (Detroit Continues to Play Worse and Worse)

To say the Detroit Tigers are stuck in a rut would be an understatement. The Tigers are stuck in reverse heading towards the edge of a very steep cliff. Detroit is on a three-game losing streak heading into Saturday’s Game 2 against the Cleveland Guardians. Cleveland took the series opener 6-1 over the Tigers. The loss added to a worrying trend for the Tigers in which they cannot score runs. The Tigers have scored exactly one run in their last three games and have scored less than five in nine of their last ten games. 

It doesn't matter how good your pitching is if you average one run a game. The problem is the Tigers pitching isn’t good either with a combined ERA of 3.67. They are hoping some young blood will inject a bit of life in this team with rookie right-hander Alex Faedo making his fourth start in the Majors. 

Here are the odds for this game, courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook. 

Tigers vs. Guardians Odds, Run Line, and Total

Run Line

• Tigers: +1.5 (-135)
• Guardians: -1.5 (+112)

Moneyline:

• Tigers: +165
• Guardians: -180

Total:

• Total 8 (Over -105/Under -115)

Tigers vs. Guardians Prediction and Pick

If there is any ray of hope for the Tigers' hopes of competing some season in the near future, Faedo might be it. The rookie has looked very good in his first three starts and enters tonight with a 2.87 ERA and 1.28 WHIP in 15 ⅔ innings. It isn't a huge sample size, but I like what I see from him so far. He has a strikeout to walk rate of 12:4 and is doing a good job of giving the Tigers a chance to win. My only concern is that two of his first three games came against awful offenses from Pittsburgh and Oakland. It will be interesting to see how he fares tonight against the Guardians. 

Cleveland may be below .500, but rank seventh in batting average at .247 and 12th in runs scored. In comparison, the Tigers rank dead last in runs scored at 106 and hit just .219. Detroit’s tepid bats will have to contend with Shane Bieber tonight for Cleveland. The Biebs is coming off a fantastic bounce-back game after getting torched by the Blue Jays two weeks ago.

Last Saturday, Bieber tossed six innings of one-run ball against the Minnesota Twins on the road. He struck out seven and walked one. His only run came on a solo shot and could have easily been avoided for a scoreless day. He has the potential to shut down this offense completely as he’s held teams to one run or less in four of seven starts this year. 

Pick: Guardians -1.5 (-112)

Follow all of Matt De Saro’s betting picks HERE