Detroit Tigers @ Cleveland Guardians 8/17/23 Free Pick, MLB Odds, MLB Predictions

Detroit Tigers (54-66) at Cleveland Guardians (58-63)

Game Info: Thursday, August 17th, 2023 at  7:15 p.m. EST (Progressive Field)

Betting Odds: Guardians ML (-105) - Over/Under (8.5)

Pick: Guardians ML (-105)

Thursday evening takes up to the Midwest and beautiful Cleveland, Ohio for the opening game of a four game series between the Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Guardians. Both of these teams have been treading water in the American League Central division this season, and both of them will be looking for a huge win to open up the series here on Thursday night as they look to gain ground on the Minnesota Twins.

Speaking of the Minnesota Twins, the Detroit Tigers just wrapped up a three-game series with them on Wednesday afternoon. It ended up being a successful series for the Detroit Tigers as they took two out of three games from Minnesota, including the finale of the series on Wednesday in a high scoring game, where the two teams combined for fifteen runs. Now Detroit will be looking to pick up their second victory in a row with a victory over Cleveland in the opening game of this series on Thursday night at Progressive Field. Despite being double digit games under .500 at the moment, there is an argument to be made that Detroit still has a possible chance at winning the American League Central division. However, it would require the Tigers to get red hot coming down the final stretch of the season. 

The Detroit Tigers come into the opening game of the series with a record of 54-66 through their first 120 games of the 2023 Major League Baseball season. They are currently in third place of the American League Central division as they find themselves eight games behind Minnesota for first and only three and a half games behind the Cleveland Guardians for second place. If they have a good performance against Cleveland throughout the weekend, there is a possibility that they could jump Cleveland for second place in the division as well. 

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There’s not many words you can use to describe the 2023 Cleveland Guardians season. However, one word that you can certainly use is “inconsistent” because this team has been incredibly inconsistent throughout the season. If they had any type of bullpen, they would arguably have one of the best records in the American League, if not all of Major League Baseball at the moment. As their bullpen alone has cost them over 20 games this season and that is likely to continue throughout the remainder of the year. He will be looking to bounce back after they lost the finale of their quick two game series to the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday afternoon. In the process of losing that game on Wednesday they dropped a massive opportunity to gain a game on Minnesota in the division as well. 

Cleveland comes into the opening game of this series with a record of 58-63 through their first 121 games of the 2023 Major League Baseball season. Many people still believe that they will end up winning the American League Central division after the way they came on strong at the end of last season as well. However, with this team this year, it looks like an entirely different club as they seem to take one step forward and five steps back. It looks as if it’ll be a bullpen day for Cleveland in this one, as Xzavion Curry is expected to get the mound here on Thursday evening. They will be looking to pick up a victory over the Detroit Tigers to open up this four-game series and kick off their homestand as well.

Betting trends to consider in this matchup:

- Cleveland is 34-28 after a loss this season

- Detroit is 21-32 after a win this season

- Detroit is 28-33 on the road this season

I expect the Cleveland Guardians to grab the victory in the opening game of the series against the Detroit Tigers. As I look for Cleveland’s lineup to simply outscore the Detroit Tigers in the opening game of the series on Thursday night at Progressive Field. Prior to the second game of the series against Cincinnati, Cleveland has been putting a solid amount of runs on the board against several opponents and I expect that to continue here on Thursday night against Detroit. 

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