Detroit Tigers at Cleveland Guardians
Tarik Skubal (1-0) vs. Matthew Boyd
Tigers Moneyline -125
After a brutal 7-0 loss in game one, the Tigers have their ace on the mound this afternoon in Tarik Skubal. It would feel wrong to not tail the future AL Cy Young and with his strikeout line set at 5.5, we’ll take the over on that line as well.
The line has hit in every Skubal start since August 18th, around the time of the Tigers miraculous season turnaround. He’s needed on the mound more than ever today, and we’re gonna bank on him to deliver this afternoon for Detroit.
Although Matthew Boyd has been decent this season in his eight starts with a 2.72 ERA, we can’t go against the AL Triple Crown winner.
Tigers Hit Props: Jake Rogers Over 0.5 Hits, Andy Ibanez Over 0.5 Hits, & Matt Vierling Over 0.5 Singles
Boyd has no prior data against the Tigers, so for offensive player props we’ll pivot to the best hitters against left handed pitching. Jake Rogers and Andy Ibanez come in as our first offensive props for this game.
Both have been excelling against left handed pitching this postseason. Rogers has three hits in four at bats against lefties this postseason for a 1.550 OPS and Ibanez has a 1.500 OPS with two doubles.
The final Tigers hitting prop for this afternoon is Matt Vierling to tally at least one single. The value just isn’t there to take Vierling to get a hit so we pivot to him to record a single. More specific yes, but with no extra base hits since September 27th against the White Sox, we’ll take our chances for better value.
Vierling is solid against left handed pitching, with a .275 average this season against the left side. For as much of a key contributor as he is, going hitless today seems unlikely.
Guardians Hit Props: Jose Ramirez Over 1.5 Total Bases
While we’re riding with the Tigers and Skubal again today, the stars in every series it seems like have come out at some point, and tailing Jose Ramirez over 1.5 total bases today will be the only Guardians prop we entertain.
Against Skubal he hits .429 with 3 2B and a 1.121 OPS. While the whole batting order excelled in game one, they most likely won’t in game two, so taking a prop from the Guardians superstar seems like the best option when looking at their props.
Kansas City Royals at New York Yankees
Cole Ragans (1-0) vs. Carlos Rodon
Under 7.5 Runs Scored
This line seems honestly rather high given how both of these pitchers perform against the opponent. Cole Ragans has been a workhorse all year for the Royals, and against the Yankees excels. In 21 total at bats, Yankees hitters have a .095 batting average against Ragans with a .478 OPS.
Last start against Baltimore he went 6.0 innings pitched of shutout baseball and should look to stay solid on the mound tonight against AL East opponents in the postseason.
Rodon on the other hand has been very good against the Royals. He’s held Kansas City batters to a .228 batting average in 101 at bats against them. At home tonight in the postseason atmosphere, Rodon needs to live up to his contract.
After such a back and forth game one, a pitchers duel seems due in game two.
Royals Props: Salvador Perez Over 1.5 Total Bases (+115)
Salvador Perez seems to just mash Yankees pitching. The veteran backstop has a .462 batting average against Rodon in 26 at bats, with three home runs. He’s been great at producing hits for Kansas City, but is due for a big game with a huge hit. If anyone on this roster is going to deliver a big hit today, it will most likely be the one with the most postseason experience
Yankees Props: Juan Soto Over 0.5 Hits (-185)
A tough lefty on lefty matchup, but Soto has been clutch for the Yankees all season. He hits .333 against Ragans, by far the most productive bat in this Yankee order. After a big game one Soto should follow it up again with another standout performance, and the way he seems to find gaps in the field anywhere, taking the -185 for a hit doesn’t seem too bad of odds.