The Detroit Tigers will wrap up their two-game series tonight with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The game is scheduled for a 10:10 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on MLB.tv and locally in both markets. Currently the odds for the game have Detroit listed as a road favorite to get a victory.
Los Angeles got an extra innings win over Detroit in the opening game of this series. The 3-2 loss to the Dodgers is only the Tigers' second loss of the season in their first road tilt of the season. Tonight's pitching matchup should be a good one to watch.
Detroit will send Anibal Sanchez to the hill. His opening start of the season was cut short because of a rain delay in Detroit, where the Tigers went on to beat the Baltimore Orioles. He didn't get a lot of innings in during spring training, battling some inflammation in his shoulder, so Detroit had him on a short pitch count anyway. Tonight he should be good to go deep in the contest if the situation warrants itself. The Detroit bullpen hasn't been the best in the Majors this season, but they believe it is improved. Sanchez is 0-1 with an ERA of 3.52 against the Dodgers and hasn't faced them since he was pitching for the Marlins in 2011.
Current Dodgers are hitting just .206 against Sanchez in 34 plate appearances.
Los Angeles is sending former fireballer Josh Beckett to the mound. He battled an injury last season and is taking the mound for the first time in almost a year. He also battled some nagging problems during spring training but the Dodgers are confident in his ability to give it a go tonight. In his last four starts against the Tigers, Beckett has struggled mightily, going 0-3 with a 6.20 ERA in those starts. Current Tigers are clubbing a .279 average against the pitcher from Texas, with Miguel Cabrera taking him deep twice in 19 at bats. Victor Martinez, Torii Hunter and Alex Avila have all had success against Beckett in their careers.
Matt Kemp is back in the lineup for the Dodgers, but Yasiel Puig is day-to-day.
We expect this game to be a lot like last night's contest. Both offenses are solid, but the pitching and defense can prove to be a major part of this game tonight as well. We give the overall edge to Sanchez and the Tigers. This is going to be just their second game on the road this season and they didn't collect a lot of hits in the opener and still nearly won. In this game tonight we think they'll be able to get enough hits off of Beckett to score some runs.
Free Pick: Detroit 5, Los Angeles 3
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