AL Central rivals will close out a three-game series on Thursday afternoon at Comerica Park with the Cleveland Guardians visiting the Detroit Tigers. After the Guardians won Monday's series opener 5-2 to cash in as a big -194 favorite, the teams will meet again later on Tuesday after the time of publishing. Cleveland is currently tied for first place in the AL Central at 57-52, while the Tigers are at the opposite end of the standings at 43-68.
Despite the mismatch in records, the Tigers still lead the season series 7-6 thus far.
A young Cleveland team isn't going anywhere in the AL Central race as they won their third straight game on Monday to move into a tie atop the division. Austin Hedges broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fifth with a sac fly before Amed Rosario added an RBI double the next inning, with Oscar Gonzalez adding a two-run double for some insurance in the eighth.
Shane Bieber cruised to a win with seven scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and one walk while piling up eight strikeouts. Emmanuel Clase got the final out to record his 25th save after things got a little tight in the ninth inning. Rosario had a three-hit game including two doubles, while Andres Gimenez went 2-4 with a double.
“[Bieber] kind of mentioned to [pitching coach] Carl [Willis] he was a little frustrated with finding his release point,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said to MLB.com . “If that’s frustration, I hope he’s frustrated a lot. I thought he was really good.”
Cleveland is up a solid amount on the money line for the season as it has exceeded expectations while going 58-51 on the run line. Overs are 54-49-6 for the Guardians, and only one of their last five games has gone under the betting total.
The Guardians are roughly a mid-pack offense, recording an average of 4.34 runs per game on a .700 team OPS. Pitching has been more of a strength with the Guardians putting up a 3.88 collective ERA including a mark of 3.44 from a strong bullpen.
Jose Ramirez has been one of the best players in baseball, posting a .905 OPS with 21 homers, 14 stolen bases and 87 driven in. Gimenez is also a breakout star, batting .303/.365/.484 with 12 homers, 12 steals and 50 driven in.
Zach Plesac will be on the mound for the 21st time this season, having gone 2-10 so far with a 4.49 ERA across 108.1 innings. The 27-year-old is coming off a loss to the Houston Astros last Thursday, when he allowed four runs on seven hits and five walks across 4.1 innings of work, striking out four.
Cleveland is mostly healthy, with starting pitcher Cody Morris (strained shoulder) and reliever Anthony Gose (strained triceps) the only two players on the current IL.