Detroit Tigers (39-50) vs. Seattle Mariners (45-44)
The second half of the 2023 Major League Baseball season starts Friday, July 14, with a full 15-game slate, so we are breaking down the American League showdown from T-Mobile Arena in Seattle, Washington, to get you the best Tigers vs. Mariners betting pick.
Detroit and Seattle open a three-game series at T-Mobile Park. They meet for the second time this season, and the Mariners took two out of three games from the Tigers back in May.
The Detroit Tigers wrapped up the first half of the season with a tough 4-3 ten-inning loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. The Tigers finished a six-game home stand with a 2-4 record, losing a couple of three-game series against the Blue Jays and the lowly Oakland Athletics. Detroit is just five and a half games behind the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians, so the Tigers, who are ten games out of the wild-card spots, still have playoff hopes.
The Tigers own the third-lowest scoring offense in the majors, tallying 3.89 runs per contest. Across eight games in July, they are hitting .242/.296/.408 with 18 extra-base hits and eight home runs in 277 at-bats. On the pitching side of things, the Tigers hold a 4.44 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and .216 batting average against in July (75 innings pitched).
Eduardo Rodriguez is projected to take the mound Friday in Seattle. The 30-year-old left-hander is 4-5 with a pristine 2.64 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and 74/16 K/BB ratio in 12 starts (71.2 innings pitched) in 2023. After spending the entire June on the IL due to a finger injury, Rodriguez returned to the Tigers rotation on July 5 and struggled mightily. He was charged with a loss in a heavy 12-3 defeat to the Athletics, allowing five earned runs on six hits through four innings of work.