Tigers And Brewers Starters Will Cruise

Tigers vs. Brewers, 7:40 ET

It was a 1-1 day yesterday. I should've taken the Rays and moved on. Instead, I took two totals and ended up losing one of the games and won the other. At least the Rays did me a favor and cleared the over almost immediately as they destroyed the Red Sox. Boston's terrible offense continued and might be something that I should hone in on for a team total. I'll look to try and get some money back here as the Tigers take on the Brewers.

The Tigers are a team that has playoff aspirations. Last season, they seemingly made it by just having their starting pitching carry them all the way here. Tarik Skubal led the way en route to a Cy Young win. Detroit didn't have much offense last season and really didn't do much to add to their lack of pop in the offseason. So far, though, the team is 10-6 for the season with a 5-5 road record. To start the year, the offense has actually looked pretty good. They have a .249 batting average with 80 runs scored in 16 games - that puts them at a five run per game average. Unlike the Red Sox, they have been much more consistent with their scoring. Yesterday they did put up 9 runs, so, sure there are some outliers. Jack Flaherty is taking the mound for the Tigers today. He has had a great start to the year. He is 1-0 with a 1.62 ERA, and a 0.96 WHIP. He has not completed six innings yet, but he also hasn't allowed more than three hits to any opponent in any start. Flaherty has held Brewers hitters to just a .208 average against them.

Detroit Tigers pitcher Jack Flaherty (9) throws New York Yankees during the second inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, April 9, 2025.

The Brewers too have playoff hopes this season, but it is expected that they will take a step back after winning the NL Central last season. They actually have the opposite problem of the Tigers. Detroit has pitching but lacked hitting. The Brewers lack pitching, but their offense was good enough last year. The offense this year hasn't been very good either. Milwaukee is hitting just .239 for the season, but in one more game than Detroit, they also have scored two more runs than Detroit. Their pitching is still struggling with a 4.93 ERA as a team. Recently they traded for tonight's starter, Quinn Priester. If he pitches the way he did in his Brewers debut, they have some hope. As a former 1st round pick, he certainly has a chance. Priester threw five innings and allowed just one solo homer and five other hits in his previous game. He has never faced Tigers hitters so I like his chances of keeping them off the scoreboard.

This is a pretty good matchups between two evenly matched teams. I do think Flaherty is a better pitcher than Priester, but he also has pitched a lot longer so has had more time to develop that reputation. The Brewers are looking to stop the bleeding a bit and have home-field advantage here where they do play better. I'm not sure who will win, but I do like the under 4.5 runs through five innings here. I think both starters continue to have edge over their opponents. 

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