Detroit Tigers vs. Toronto Blue Jays: Odds, Prediction
The Detroit Tigers make their lone visit to Rogers Centre this season by starting a four-game set Thursday night. The Blue Jays are -233 favourites to win on the MLB odds, with a total of 9.0.
Betting Analysis
The Tigers were one of the best teams in the American League the second half of last season and they were absolutely expected to be a playoff contender this year, but things just haven’t gone according to plan. No team has scored fewer runs and the rotation has been hit hard by injuries. Thus, Detroit is an interesting team to watch ahead of the Aug. 2 Trade Deadline because it could go into seller mode. There was a report this week that nearly everyone is available, including good-looking young lefty pitcher Tarik Skubal, who won’t pitch in this series because he was on the mound Wednesday.
Toronto won two of three in Detroit from June 10-12. The Jays hit .313 in the series with Lourdes Gurriel Jr. batting .500 with two doubles, a homer and five RBIs. George Springer was 5-for-13 with a homer and three knocked in. Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. both hit .357 with a homer. Detroit hit just .170 in the series and didn’t homer. Harold Castro was 3-for-10 with a double and RBI, and future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera was 1-for-10 with two strikeouts.
The total has gone under in 16 of the past 21 in the series.
Detroit Tigers
Detroit is 15-32 on the road. As of now, the only player confirmed to not make the trip due to COVID vaccination status is lefty reliever Andrew Chafin (2.53 ERA in 37 appearances). How bad are the Tigers offensively? They don’t have a regular batter hitting close to .300 and just one player. Jeimer Candelario is the only one with double-digit homers and he only has 10.
Lefty Tyler Alexander (2-3, 4.05 ERA) is scheduled on the mound Thursday. It will be his fourth start and 15th appearance, so he may only get one chance through the lineup before being pulled – his season high is 3.2 innings pitched. Alexander didn’t face the Jays in the first series. Gurriel is 3-for-6 career off him with a double, and Alejandro Kirk 2-for-3 with a double and homer. The Tigers are 1-10 in their past 11 vs. AL East teams.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Jays were double-whammy losers Wednesday as they were upset at home by short-handed St. Louis – ending Toronto’s seven-game winning streak — and also lost out on trading for Royals outfielder Andrew Benintendi as the Yankees got him. Guerrero did extend his hitting streak to eight games in Wednesday’s loss and is batting .457 (16-for-35) over that streak with four doubles, a homer, and six RBIs. Really no excuse for Toronto to not win at least three of four at home against Detroit. The Jays are 18-13 in series openers this season.
The team will activate lefty Yusei Kikuchi (3-5, 5.12 ERA) off the injured list for Thursday. Due to a neck injury, Kikuchi hasn’t pitched in the majors since allowing four runs over 2.1 innings in Oakland on July 5. He threw five scoreless innings in Triple-A last Friday and got out of that fine. Kikuchi last faced the Tigers in 2021 while with Seattle and in three career starts against them is 0-1 with a 5.63 ERA in 16 innings. Toronto is 4-1 in its past five vs. the AL Central.
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