The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the road tonight when they take on the Detroit Tigers in Major League Baseball action. The game is scheduled for a 7:08 p.m. start time and it will be televised live on MLB.tv. Currently the odds for the game have the Pirates favored to pick up the win in this one on the road.
Both teams were off on Monday, this Interleague matchup should be a good series. Pittsburgh has been playing very well this season, the Tigers are looking to finally get things pieced together as they've struggled a bit. What's been really strange for the Tigers is their inconsistent game at home, where they are just a single game over the .500 mark despite being one of the better home teams the past few years. Pittsburgh is actually a game under the .500 mark in their road games this season, so one team will at least improve on their current mark in this one.
The Pirates send Gerrit Cole to the mound, he's been dominant all season with an 11-2 record and his 2.16 ERA. Cole, the youngster from UCLA, has been amazing in road starts this season. He's made eight of those starts away from home, thrown 52 2/3 innings and has a 6-1 record with a 1.71 ERA. Those numbers are simply staggering and he's holding opponents to an average of just .222 in those eight starts. Current Tigers own an average of just .160 against him in minimal at bats, 25 to be exact. Yeonis Cespedes has two hits, Nick Castellanos and Miguel Cabrera have each added a base hit off Cole as well.
Detroit will give the ball to Justin Verlander, who has really fallen off from recent years. Verlander used to be the best pitcher in the game but injuries have cost him a lot the past handful of seasons. The former American League MVP hasn't made a lot of starts this season, just two, and has allowed eight earned runs in just under 12 total innings, giving him a 6.17 ERA for the season with his 0-1 record. It's going to take some time for Verlander to get back toward his formal self, maybe he'll never actually get there.
Either way, Verlander is allowing current Pirates to have an average of .185 in 65 plate appearances. Nobody has homered off him, he's struck out 19 hitters as well, including Pedro Alvarez six times. A couple of Pirates have a couple of base hits off him, including Sean Rodriguez and Andrew McCutchen, who each had a pair of doubles.
Despite Pittsburgh's struggles on the road this season, it's hard to look past Cole and what he has been able to do. Detroit is starting to play better, but Cole gets the win here on the road tonight.
Free Pick: Pirates
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Pro handicappers Teddy Covers and Steve Fezzik have a bone to pick with MLB Commisioner Bud Selig, who decided the All-Star exhibition game will determine World Series home field advantage. With Royals fans currently voting seven Kansas City players into the starting line up of the American League team, this popularity-based roster of an exhibition game which has way too much impact on the most important baseball series of the year.
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