The Major League Baseball season is going to have a number of interesting interleague matchups over the course of six months, but it’s hard to find a better one in April than the pairing of the Detroit Tigers and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Detroit Tigers @ Los Angeles Dodgers
Game 1
Tuesday, 10:10 PM ET
MLB Betting Odds: Tigers -130
The Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Dodgers are the two teams that lost in the league championship series round of the MLB playoffs last October, falling to the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals in six games apiece. The Tigers suffered in their bullpen and did not get clutch hits they needed from an injured Miguel Cabrera and a healthy Prince Fielder. The Dodgers’ bats were silenced for most of that series against St. Louis, and they did not give any help to staff ace Clayton Kershaw, whose injury early this season has already placed a little more pressure on the other Dodgers, especially the starting pitchers, to perform well. The Dodgers have a hugely talented team, but after falling short in the 2013 NLCS, there’s a chance that Los Angeles could press, and that it will try too hard at the plate in order to overcome the loss of Kershaw.
In this game, Dan Haren, formerly with the Washington Nationals and (before that) the Los Angeles Angels, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Oakland Athletics, will try to give the Dodgers a strong start. He’ll need to, because he’s going up against one of the best pitchers in the game right now. Max Scherzer will be one of the anchors of the Detroit rotation, alongside Justin Verlander and Anibal Sanchez. He has nasty stuff and is so hard for an opposing hitter to read. The Dodgers face an uphill battle here.
Pick: Detroit
Game 2
Wednesday, 10:10 PM ET
The Dodgers have better odds of winning in the second game of this quick two-game series. Anibal Sanchez is almost as good as Scherzer. Over the long haul, he’s going to be very important to Detroit in its attempt to retain the American League Central championship. Sanchez’s long arms create a whip-like release that is hard for hitters to pick up. Sanchez mixes his speeds well, a big part of what makes him so effective and such a good strikeout pitcher in particular.
The Dodgers can win this game, though, because they might be able to shut down Detroit’s offense. Hyun-Jin Ryu was extremely good for the Dodgers last season, and the Korean can become even better this year. With more polish and repetitions, Ryu could become more like a third ace and less like a number three pitcher in a rotation. Ryu, when at his best, just doesn’t allow hitters to make really strong contact. He can get the Tigers off balance and can set the tone for this game in Dodger Stadium, which is clearly a pitchers’ park even after 52 years of being the Dodgers’ home park. Take Los Angeles in the finale of the series.
Pick: Los Angeles Dodgers
