An interesting interleague series gets underway Tuesday night when the Pittsburgh Pirates (22-19, 12-10 away) visit the Detroit Tigers (18-21, 9-9 home). Both teams have had surprisingly good starts, compared to expectations, but it was a tough past week for both. Below is my MLB pick for the Pittsburgh Pirates vs Detroit Tigers.
Pittsburgh Pirates vs Detroit Tigers Betting Pick
The Pick: Detroit Tigers -116
This game will be played at Comerica Park at 6:40 p.m. on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
Why Bet the Detroit Tigers:
✅ Detroit has been playing good ball having won eight of their last 12 games played.
✅ At home, the Tigers have won four of their last six in Comerica.
✅ Pittsburgh is in a free fall having lost 11 of their last 13 games played.
Pittsburgh Pirates Are Struggling
Pittsburgh started this season as one of the best teams in the league, but they have fallen back to reality over the past two weeks. The Pirates started the week by losing two of three against the Colorado Rockies and ended the week by losing two of three in Baltimore. A rough couple weeks for this young Pirates team.
The Pirates are still undecided on who will be starting this series on the mound.
Bryan Reynolds has had a nice start to the season as he leads Pittsburgh with a .293 batting average and 23 RBIs. Andrew McCutchen has hit a team leading seven home runs.
The Detroit Tigers Need a Winning Streak
Detroit has been hanging around the top of the weak AL Central, but the end of last week was a poor one for them. They started the week winning two of three in Cleveland, but ended it by losing two of three at home against the Seattle Mariners. Luckily, the Tigers play in the AL Central and are only four games back of first.
Michael Lorenzen is set to make his sixth start of the season and he will look to improve on his 4.18 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 28.0 innings pitched.
The Tigers have been balanced at the dish as Riley Greene is batting a team high .279, Jake Rogers has hit five home runs, and Javier Baez has knocked in a team leading 18 RBIs.
