Detroit Tigers vs. Cleveland Guardians July 15 Betting Preview

After winning the opener on Thursday, the Cleveland Guardians (44-44) will look to make it two wins in a row as they host the Detroit Tigers (37-53) on Friday. This game will be played at Progressive Field with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 pm ET.

Triston McKenzie was dominant in Thursday’s outing. He went eight scoreless innings, allowing just five hits and striking out 12. Emmanuel Clase finished out the game with a perfect ninth.

Offensively, Andres Gimenez went two for three with a home run and two runs batted in. Josh Naylor also added his 12th home run of the season.

The Tigers only managed five hits on the night with Miguel Cabrera accounting for two of them.

Guardians July 15 Betting Odds

The Guardians are the favorite playing at home Friday. They are -190 to win while the Tigers’ moneyline sits at +160. The runline features Detroit +1.5 (-138), and the over/under for total runs is 8.5.

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Pitching Matchup

Manager A.J. Hinch will send righty Drew Hutchison to the mound for the Tigers Friday. In 14 games, the 31-year-old is 1-4 with a 4.08 ERA, 1.36 ERA, and he has 22 strikeouts in 35.1 innings.

Cleveland will counter with righty Zach Plesac. In 16 games, he is 2-7 with a 3.99 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, and has 65 strikeouts in 90.1 innings. Plesac has gone 0-2 in his last three starts, but in that span, he has given up just six runs in 17 innings of work. He has also struck out 15 or that time while allowing just 16 hits.

Tigers Look To Bounce Back

With their loss on Thursday, the Detroit Tigers have now lost two in a row and six of their last seven. They will look to bounce back, but they will have to do so on the road, where they are now 14-29 on the season.

Despite sacrificing a lot of his power, Miguel Cabrera has quietly been one of the best hitters for the Tigers this season. The All-Star is hitting .290/.328/.351 with just three home runs, but he does have 34 runs batted in.

Most of the Tigers have actually struggled against Zach Plesac in their careers. The only exception is Willi Castro, who is hitting .462 in 13 at bats. Eric Haase has homered off of him, but that is his lone hit in five at bats.

Cleveland Hopes To Move Above .500

At 44-44, the Cleveland Guardians would love to move back over .500 with a win on Friday. They currently sit 3.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins, and they are hoping their home field advantage will continue to help as they are 23-19 at Progressive Field this season.

As the team’s best hitter, it is no surprise that Jose Ramirez has the best numbers on the team against the Tigers’ Drew Hutchison. Albeit in just eight at bats, he is hitting .500 with a home run and four runs batted in.

The team as a whole has hit Hutchison pretty well. Collectively, they are 10 for 31 against the righty.

Over their last couple weeks, Franmil Reyes has been one of the hottest Guardians’ hitters. In 51 at bats, he is hitting .246/.266/.492 with four home runs and 10 runs batted in during that span.

Cleveland Wants To Finish Weekend Strong Ahead Of All-Star Break

With the All-Star break rapidly approaching, the Cleveland Guardians would love to finish off this weekend on a high note by winning the series over the Tigers.

Thursday was a good start, but the Guardians have the ability to win the series, if not take a clean sweep.

On Friday, it will be Zach Plesac’s turn to lead the team to victory. While his win-loss record has been shaky, his other statistics have shown he has been subject to a little bad luck.

If the offense can scratch across a handful of runs, Plesac should be able to do the rest against the worst offense in baseball. The Guardians should have a great shot to move above .500 against their AL Central rivals.