The Detroit Tigers look to escape the St. Petersburg, Florida with a series win today as they battle the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. This afternoon’s series finale is scheduled to get underway at 1:40pm ET. MLB Free Picks and Odds at offshore bookmaker 5Dimes have Detroit listed as a slight -115 road favorite ($115 wins $100) and the Over/Under set at 7.5 runs. The Rays are drawing a +105 money line to close out their current six game home stand with a victory.

 

It would be an overstatement to say the Tigers are reeling; however, they are not playing good baseball right now. Detroit is 1-4 in its last five games and perilously close to losing its division lead.

 

The Tigers, who, at 43-36, own a one game lead over the Indians in the AL Central standings, will look to snap out of their recent funk with 24 year old right hander Rick Porcello on the hill.

 

Porcello, given his 5.27 ERA and .270 batting average against, may not be the best man for the job. The New Jersey native has been especially awful of late, giving up 19 hits and 13 earned runs in his last two starts (10.1 innings pitched).

 

Prior to those two outings, though, Porcello had a nice little run going as he had produced four consecutive quality starts and allowed just four earned runs over 22 innings.

 

Tampa Bay, which improved to 42-39 with yesterday’s 4-3 extra innings win, will counter Porcello with Jeremy Hellickson. Hellickson, a 26 year old right hander out of Des Moines, Iowa, also sports an ugly five plus ERA, but he is tracking well right now.

 

Hellickson, who is 4-1 in his last five starts, has yielded eight hits, four walks, and two earned runs in his last 13 innings of work for a 1.38 ERA and 0.92 WHIP.

 

The Rays are 6-2 in Hellickson’s eight appearances at Tropicana Field this season.

 

Notable Trends: Tampa Bay is 9-1 in its last 10 games as a home dog with a moneyline spread between 100 and 120.

 

Detroit Tigers -1.5 (+170), Under 7.5 (-110), -115 (Moneyline)

 

Tampa Bay Rays +1.5 (-200), Over 7.5 (-110), +105 (Moneyline)

 

What baseball bettors need to know about Detroit Tigers at Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday (6/30/13) - a free pick from Pregame.com's Ken Thomson, with host Marco D'Angelo.