The Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics wrap up their series this afternoon when the As host Detroit in the fourth game of their series. The game will see the first pitch at 3:30 p.m. (EST) and the Major League Baseball Odds for the contest have Oakland favored to pick up a win.
Josh Donaldson sent the Athletics home with a happy win last night, blasting a 3-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning. Detroit had gotten a great start from Anibal Sanchez and led 1-0 in the ninth, but Donaldson sent Detroit back to their hotel reeling from a loss.
Today Detroit will hand the ball to Rick Porcello, who is having himself a very good start to the season. Porcello has struggled a bit lately, but still has a 7-2 record and sports a 3.88 ERA on the season. The young right hander was beat up by the Texas Rangers, giving up eight earned runs over 5 1/3 innings his last outing.
Detroit has now lost eight of their last 10 games overall, going from arguable best team in baseball to falling back to the pack. Joe Nathan has blown two saves in his last three chances, spoiling an 8-inning, 2-hit performance by Sanchez. The Tigers thought they had the bullpen fixed as it was a major problem last season. But they have not been very good, holding a 4.33 ERA which is one of the worst in the league. During the Tigers' recent struggles the bullpen has posted a 5.40 ERA as well.
Oakland has beat around Porcello in his career. Porcello sports a record of 1-5 against them with a 5.18 ERA, but hasn't faced them since the 2012 season.
The Atlhetics have won 32 games this season, Detroit has 29 victories. Donaldson has been a huge catalyst for the Athletics this season, having homered in three of his last four games. He's hit well against the Tigers as well, clubbing a .400 average while knocking in 11 runs in his last 11 games.
Oakland will send Jesse Chavez to the hill, he's got a 2.61 ERA with a 4-2 record on the season. Chavez will have to keep the Tigers in the ballpark. He's given up five home runs in his last three starts. Detroit isn't the same mashing team they were last season, but they still have a lot of guys that can blast it out of the ballpark. Chavez hasn't even started against Detroit, but has thrown in relief against them several times in his career. Miguel Cabrera and Alex Avila have both homered off of Chavez.
Today we like the Tigers to pick up the win.
Free Pick: Detroit 5, Oakland 4
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