Game 5 Cleveland Guardians vs. Detroit Tigers Prediction:
It is a winner-take-all Game 5 in the American League Divisional Series between the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers for the right to face the New York Yankees in the championship series.
The likely American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal gets the start for the Detroit Tigers, who has been good all season with an 18-4 record with a 2.39 ERA with 10.6 strikeouts to 1.6 walks per nine innings, but has been at his best down the stretch.
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In two playoff starts, Skubal has thrown 13 scoreless innings and has allowed five total runs in his past seven starts between the regular season and playoffs across 45 2/3.
While for the entirety of the season, the Guardians had a bullpen whose 2.56 ERA was more than a half point better than any other in the league, the Tigers, from August 1 until the end of the regular season, had the best bullpen ERA in the American League with a 2.71 ERA.
For the Tigers to survive this road of the playoffs, they need to get through former teammate Matthew Boyd, who spent eight seasons in Detroit. Between the regular season and playoffs, he enters with a career-best 2.44 ERA with nearly 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings.
While the Guardians during the regular season had the offensive advantage with their 4.7 runs per game at home ranking 10th in the league, the Detroit Tigers had the better overall offense from August 13 until the end of the regular season, ranked fourth in the American League in runs per game with over 4.4 runs per game.
The Guardians have manufactured just seven runs in the past 35 innings since scoring five runs in the first inning of Game 1. With the way Skubal has pitched all season long, the Detroit Tigers will get the job done on the road and win the series.
MLB Pick: Detroit Tigers -120
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