Back Boston In Chris Sale's Return

Tigers vs. Red Sox, 7:10 ET

Baseball can be a very frustrating sport. It can be maddening when you are giving out picks for thousands to read and follow. Yesterday, I had a play on the Blue Jays vs. Guardians. For the second straight day, I mentioned a play I thought would make sense, but of course, went a different direction. I don't really get mad about bets I don't make too often, but I feel like I may have talked myself out of a good one yesterday. I'll try to get it back here in the Tigers vs. Red Sox matchup.

The Tigers are another team that is frustrating me right now. Not because of the team performance, they still suck overall, but are playing better for whatever that is worth, but because I've been picking player props in their games and getting killed. Literally three straight games I had three different hitters with poor track records against the starter and they all lost. Two days ago, the guy I picked hit two home runs in his first two at-bats. Sometimes it is easier to laugh about things than dwell on them, but I'm mostly mentioning all of this because perhaps I'm in a rut and you need to fade. In any case, the Tigers are sending Tarik Skubal to the hill tonight. He's been a pretty reliable starter for the Tigers in his six outings. And, keep in mind this is a small sample size, but at home he is awesome. On the road, he is an absolute abomination. He has a 0.00 ERA in four home starts. On the road, in two starts, he has allowed 11 runs in 8.2 innings. Sure, one of them was a start where he allowed seven earned, but that means he allowed four in the other. He hasn't completed six innings yet, so now we are taxing a bad Detroit bullpen as well with him on the mound. Red Sox hitters are 7-for-18 against him lifetime.

The Tigers travel to Boston to take on the Red Sox. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

The Red Sox have the stud, the Ace, the flame thrower, the... well, I can't like, those adjectives all described who this guy used to be. Chris Sale takes the ball for the Red Sox tonight and in reality he has been the dud, the injured list, very-hittable guy, instead of anything else. I like Sale, and I don't mean to make light of the struggles that the guy has had since coming to Boston. He reminds me a bit of a less successful Tim Lincecum. Lincecum was unhittable and super dominant, then he wasn't. He hasn't pitched for the Red Sox since June 1st, and they've already mentioned he will be limited to around four innings. They need to handle him with kid gloves unfortunately, but it is certainly understandable given that he has pitched just 22 games in the last three years. Small hat tip to him though as it looked like he was going to get back on track before getting injured. In his May and June starts, a span of five games, he allowed just eight earned runs and covered 29.2 innings.

I'm going to back the Red Sox in this game. If it comes down to the two starters going roughly four innings, I think Boston's starter will be better. If the game is somehow tied, then I still think that the Red Sox have the better bullpen. I'll back them here as well due to them being at home and the Tigers having to travel to play the game today. I think that favors the Red Sox even though they had to play last night.

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