Detroit Tigers Vs. San Francisco Giants (6/29/22) Starting Lineup, Betting Odds, Prediction

In 2021, the Tigers were 77-85, third place in the American League Central Division.  This season Detroit is 28-44 through 72 games, fourth place in the American League Central.  They’re +20000 to win the division this season.  While a long shot, the Tigers are +100000 to win the World Series; their last title came in 1984.  Detroit’s last playoff appearance was 2014, losing in the Division Series to the Baltimore Orioles. 

The San Francisco Giants were 107-55, first in the National League West last season, losing to Los Angeles in the NLDS.  Since their last championship in 2014, San Francisco has made two playoff appearance (2016 and 2021); they’re +3000 to win the World Series this season.  In 2022, San Francisco is 39-33 through their first 72 games, third place in the National League West; they are +1200 to win the division and have an 75% chance of making the 2022 postseason.

Detroit Tigers Vs. San Francisco Giants Betting Odds

The Tigers are 4-1 in their last five interleague games.  Under is 4-1 in Detroit’s last five interleague games vs. a team with a winning record.  The Tigers are 1-5 in their last six road games vs. a left-handed starter.   Over is 4-1 in Detroit’s last five road games vs. a left-handed starter.  The Giants are 14-5 in their last 19 interleague home games.  Under is 7-3-2 in San Francisco’s last 12 home games.  The Giants are 8-0 in their last eight during game two of a series.  Under is 7-3 in San Francisco’s last 10 interleague games vs. a right-handed starter.

Detroit Tigers Starting Lineup

R. Garcia R
2-2 4.57 ERA

LF R. Grossman S
SS J. Baez R
DH M. Cabrera R
C E. Haase R
CF R. Greene L
1B S. Torkelson R
3B J. Candelario S
RF W. Castro S
2B J. Schoop R

Detroit Tigers Vs. Alex Wood (L)

Prized free-agent this past off-season Javier Baez hasn’t had the best start to his Tigers career with .217 batting average in his first 230 at-bats.  Baez has hit seven home runs, knocked in 25 runs, which leads the club and has accumulated 86 total bases in 2022.  Jonathan Schoop in his third season with Detroit has 12 doubles, a triple, six home run, 21 runs batted in with 83 total bases on the year.  In his 10-year career, Schoop has hit .257 with 169 home runs and knocked in 520 runs.  Jeimer Candelario has six doubles, two triples, five home runs, 17 runs batted in, 20 runs scored and 62 total bases in 2022.  First baseman Spencer Torkelson the first pick in the 2020 MLB draft has hit nine doubles, four home runs and 61 total bases in his first season in the big leagues.   

Robbie Grossman is a .248 lifetime hitter with 75 home runs and 339 runs batted in.  This season he has scored 18 runs, hit two home runs, driven in 18 runs and 54 total bases.

Miguel Cabrera one of the best right-handed hitters of all-time crossed the “magic number” of 3,000 career hits this season; he currently has over 3,050 hits.  He’s a lifetime .310 hitter with 505 home runs, 1,827 runs batted in and a .915 OPS.  This season, he leads the team with a .286 batting average.  Cabrera has hit three home runs, driven in 23 runs, accumulating 83 total bases with a slugging percentage of .367 with an OPS of .702 in 2022. 

Left-hander Alex Wood is 5-6 in 14 starts with an ERA of 5.05 this season.  In 67 2/3 innings pitched, he’s struck out 65 batters, allowed 38 runs with a WHIP of 1.374 in 2022.  Wood has a career record of 68-54 with an ERA of 3.60 in 1,058 innings.

San Francisco Giants Starting Lineup

A. Wood L
5-6 5.05 ERA

DH T. La Stella L
RF M. Yastrzemski L
3B E. Longoria R
LF J. Pederson L
1B B. Belt L
SS T. Estrada R
2B W. Flores R
CF A. Slater R
C C. Casali R

San Francisco Giants Vs. Rony Garcia (R)

Joc Pederson fresh off his second World Series championship (Dodgers – 2020 and Braves – 2021), the left-handed hitting outfielder in his first season with the Giants leads the team in home runs (17), total bases (108), slugging percentage (.578) and OPS (.924).  The former Los Angeles Dodger is second in runs batted in with 39 for San Francisco in 2022.  Mike Yastrzemski is batting .245 this season in over 250 at-bats.  He’s hit 16 doubles, eight home runs, drive in 28 runs and accumulated 92 total bases in 2022.  Additionally, Yastrzemski has an .781 OPS with a .434 slugging percentage this season.  

Brandon Crawford, an All-Star in 2021, has hit five home runs, driven in 30 runs with 87 total bases.  Due to a knee injury, Crawford is out indefinitely.  Wilmer Flores, who’s capable playing all over the infield is hitting .261 in 51 games played this season.  He’s second on the team in home runs with seven and total bases with 99.  He leads San Francisco in runs batted in with 40 and has 415 runs batted in during his career.  Flores in his third season as Giant has a .726 OPS with a .411 slugging percentage this season.  Thairo Estrada has played well at second base this season, hitting .265 in over 235 at-bats.  He has 12 doubles, one triple, six home runs, 31 runs driven in, 95 total bases with an OPS of .720 in 2022.

Rony Garcia is 2-2 in 14 games (six starts) with an ERA of 4.57 this season.  In 43 1/3 innings, he’s struck out 44 batters, allowed 22 runs with a WHIP of 1.038 in 2022.

Detroit Tigers Vs. San Francisco Giants Picks & Prediction

The Tigers are 3-7 in their last 10 during game 2 of a series.  Detroit is averaging 3.09 runs per nine innings, 30^th in Major League Baseball. They have a team batting average of .226, 27^th in the league, and their OPS is .612, 29^th in all of MLB.  The Tigers’ pitching staff has allowed 4.48 runs per nine innings, 21^st in the league with opponents’ batting .241 against the team, 17^th in MLB.  Under is 13-5 in Detroit’s last 18 vs. National League West opponents.

San Francisco is 5-1 in their last six vs. American League Central foes.  The Giants are averaging 4.95 runs per nine innings, fourth overall in MLB.  They have a team batting average of .240, 17^th in the league, and their OPS is .726, 11^th overall in baseball.  San Francisco’s pitching staff has allowed 4.39 runs per nine innings, 17^th in MLB with opponents’ batting .252 against the club, 21^st in the league.  Over is 15-6-1 in the Giants last 22 interleague games vs. a team with a losing record.  I’m going with the Giants in this game, covering the 1.5 run spread as the teams combine to score under 7.5 runs, due to their club having more offensive threats than the Tigers; San Francisco scores almost two runs a game more than Detroit this season.