Cleveland Indians vs. Detroit Tigers Betting Preview: Best Bets To Make

The Cleveland Indians are set to host the Detroit Tigers on Friday night to begin a weekend series between the AL Central rivals. Suddenly these two teams are very close in the standings, but neither team will be making a playoff push.

Detroit has improved its record to 53-58 with this latest surge, and they have picked up some impressive wins. The Tigers are still just 21-33 on the road this season, and most of their damage has been done at home.

The Indians were a playoff contender through June, but the team just wasn’t good enough to hang on. Cleveland is now just 52-54 on the season, and they will be watching the playoffs from home.

On Friday night, the Indians are the favorites at -153, and the over/under is set at 9.5 total runs.

A Look at the Numbers

If you take a look at the overall numbers between the Indians and Tigers, you would be surprised to find that Cleveland is ahead in the standings. Detroit has been better in nearly every major category, but the Indians had a pair of dominant starters to begin the year.

Detroit comes into this series with a team batting average of .242, and they have scored 490 runs on the year. Much of that damage has been done at home, and that team is also trending in the right direction of late.

Cleveland has a team batting average of just .230, and they have scored 454 runs on the year. Offense has been a major challenge for the Indians throughout 2021, and that will be key moving forward.

The pitching stats for each team are similar, but neither team has been pitching it very well.

Indians Looking For Home Cooking

The previous road trip was not much fun for the Indians, but they have been a solid team at home so far this season. Detroit might be a team that is coming on strong, but they are going to have to figure out how to win on the road.

This is a perfect time for the Indians to get things back on track, even though it’s not going to help them reach the playoffs this season. Detroit looks like a franchise ready to turn things back around, but the Indians clearly have the advantage on Friday night.

Runs Will Be Scored

This pitching matchup features Matt Manning for Detroit and Cal Quantrill for the Indians. This is a big reason why the Indians are the favorites on Friday night, but Quantrill isn’t having a good season either.

Manning has gone 2-4 with a 5.59 ERA this season, while Quantrill is 2-2 with a 3.40 ERA. Not exactly two dominant starting pitchers, and that could lead to a big offensive night for each team.

It is going to take at least five runs to win the game, and that should push the total right around the over/under of 9.5.