MLB Betting: Everybody Loves the Tigers—Should You?
READ MORE: Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, MLB Betting
Today’s 2:10 snoozefest between the Kansas City Royals and the Detroit Tigers has an amorous public betting the Tigers. 80% of Covers bettors on board. How come? The heavy-hitting Tigers bat .287 against left handers and Kansas City Royals’ lefty pitcher Jimmy Gobble is primed for a pummeling. At a relatively cheap price of -125 over at Matchbook, it’s not a bad investment. But Gobble also has had some success against the Tigers with three wins and an ERA under 4.
Detroit Tigers at Kansas City Royals [Covers]
Chopping Lines: Feeling Minnesota
READ MORE: Chopping Lines, Detroit Tigers, MLB Betting, Minnesota Twins
1:05 p.m.
Minnesota Twins (75-69, F. Liriano)
at
Detroit Tigers (65-78, S. Douglass)
This is a tough call to make considering that the Tigers(yes, these Tigers) are hitting an alarming .291 as a team this year against left handers. And the Twins are trotting out a spicy lefthander named Francisco Liriano today, who according to some who’ve seen him pitch, is one of the hardest, nastiest throwing lefties getting the big call-up today. So, do we go with the Tigers and their tee-ball-esque numbers against lefties or continue with our theory that stud-like rookie pitchers in their first major league outings consistently do well? We’ll go with Liriano today, pay a little bit for him, and hope for a solid 6 to 7 inning output. Here’s hoping the Twins’ bullpen doesn’t urinate on its shoes and that Sean Douglass doesn’t go all Jack Morris on us. We need a win. Desperately.
PICK!: MIN -120
Chopping Lines: Indians Will Treat Tigers Like They Stole Their Land
READ MORE: A.J. Benza, Chopping Lines, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, MLB Betting
7:05 p.m.
Detroit Tigers
(62-67, N. Robertson)
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Cleveland Indians
(74-58, C. Lee)
It’s funny you say “breaking balls,” because I was just thinking how Cliff Lee’s breaking ball will have Tigers’ batters unable to get their bats off their shoulders, thus breaking their balls in the process. The crafty lefthanded Lee has won his last five starts, with his last being a 4-hit, 5-K ditty against the pesky Devil Rays. And wait…the legend of Lee’s breaking ball gets better: He has just given up one run in his last two starts . Meanwhile Detroit’s Mike Maroth has given up 10 hits in each of his last two outings, not to mention getting his tits lit against the ChiSox for 8 earned runs before the 4th inning. Currently, the bats belonging to Cleveland’s Native Americans have been red hot. The Jake will be awash in Tiger blood tonight.
BENZAPICK!: CLE -159
Chopping Lines: Jeremy Bonderman Only Needs One Wrist to Win
READ MORE: Chopping Lines, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, MLB Betting
7:05 p.m.
Detroit Tigers (62-66, J. Bonderman)
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Cleveland Indians (73-58 ,S. Elarton)
So this is what Vegas linesmen will have me believe: Cleveland’s no. 5 starter, Scott Elarton, oughta be favored in a match-up against Detroit ace Jeremy Bonderman? Nice try guys. For starters, neither guy has been spectacular lately, but no. 5 guys rarely are while aces always find a way to bounce back. After taking a linedrive off his writs last week, Bonderman tested his wrist over the weekend at Fenway Park and looks to be fine. He’s 2-2 vs. the Tribe this season, but the difference is his Tigers have registered some impressive victories lately, and that ought to carry them here. Elarton got knocked around by Tampa Bay last time out and with his never-overpowering stuff, I look for Mr. Dimitri Young to take him deep and send him out. No overturned cars in nearby Motown, but a nice win for Bonderman’s rubber game.
BENZAPICK!: DET +123
(YTD 6-3)
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Chopping Lines: Saarloos Means “Tiger Rapist” in Swedish
READ MORE: A.J. Benza, Chopping Lines, Detroit Tigers, MLB Betting, Oakland Athletics
7:05 p.m.
Oakland Athletics (68-56, K. Saarloos)
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Detroit Tigers (61-62, J. Bonderman)
Best Line: OAK +135, DETROIT -139
Pop Quiz time: Is Kirk Saarloos A.) A Finnish skateboarder; B.) The boyfriend of Iceland superstar Bjork, or C.) The Oakland A’s pitcher who will stop the team’s current swoon. The answer is C, but that’s not to say he’ll never ride rails in Finland or if he’ll ever bang Bjork one day.
Although manager Ken Macha kinda pitches Saarloos in spots, he has already beaten the Tigers this season and he’s won his last three decisions. On the other hand, Tigers ace, Jeremy Bonderman, still throws up in his mouth whenever anyone mentions Oakland, and how that team traded him to Detroit three years ago. He’s had some of his best outings at Oakland’s expense, but the A’s pounded out four runs and eight hits in six innings off of him July 31 and tonight will be more of the same. With the Yankees overtaking Oakland for the top Wild Card spot, the real season begins now. And besides, the Tigers are way too shitty to win six straight games.
BENZAPICK!: OAK +135
(YTD 5-2)
Chopping Lines: Tigers Eat Meat and Red Sox Too
READ MORE: Boston Red Sox, Chopping Lines, Detroit Tigers, MLB Betting
1:05 p.m.
Boston Red Sox (69-48, D. Wells)
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Detroit Tigers (56-62, J. Bonderman)
Here we are once again riding atop the Jeremy Bonderman bandwagon, arms waving, sparklers affixed in our rectum and so confident in his ability to dominate a game that we’ll happily throw money at him without even thinking. Yes, he’s 0-3 in his last three starts, but we are thoroughly convinced that the losing stops this afternoon. After last night’s embarrassing meltdown, the Tigers have to show some sort of bounce-back pride or they are officially the WORST TEAM IN HISTORY. We fully expect a 4-3 kind of game and Red Sox pitcher David Wells to pitch admirably through a hangover(Hockeytown Cafe happy hours are irresistible), however this is the day Bonderman sops up the bloody wounds.
PICK!: Detroit +126
(OJ YTD 4-6)
Chopping Lines: Bonderman Bounce-Back?
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12:37 p.m.
Toronto Blue Jays (58-55, S. Downs)
at
Detroit Tigers (53-60, J. Bonderman)
Best Line: Detroit -132, Toronto +132, o/u 9.5
Nobody can deny the outright studliness of Jeremy Bonderman at this point. Even though he’s dropped his last two starts, he’s still shown a different set of mechanics and maturity since his hit-or-miss early days of being a top Tigers’ prospect. And then there’s Scott Downs on the mound for Toronto Blue Jays. Who’s Scott Downs you ask? We have no idea either. Downs has a striking resemblance to Scott Schwartz, the kid actor in the Richard Pryor movie The Toy, but other than that, he’s done little to make us think that he’ll be able to go head-to-head with Bonderman and come out with a win.
PICK!: Detroit -132 and Under
Chopping Lines: Do it for Ryan Franklin’s Atrophy
READ MORE: Chopping Lines, Detroit Tigers, MLB Betting, Seattle Mariners
1:05 PM
Seattle (46-60, F. Hernandez)
at
Detroit (51-55, S. Douglass)
Best Line: SEATTLE +112
All eyes will be on Seattle’s rookie phenom Felix Hernandez today as the Pacific Coast Leaguer, and the youngest pitcher to start in the Majors since 1991, makes his Major League debut against the Tigers at Detroit. The Mariners won the first game of the series and lost last night 10-7 as Mike Maroth moved to 9-11 on the season even though he gave up 5 runs in six innings as the Tigers rallied around him with 13 hits for the win.
19-year-old Felix Hernandez (0-0, 0.00 ERA) comes to the Mariners after dominating the Pacific Coast League while pitching at Triple-A Tacoma. Hernandez was 9-4, with a league-leading 2.25 ERA, and 100 strikeouts in just 88 innings pitched. While this does not necessarily translate into success at the major league level, a 97-mph-fastball and a wicked curve ball are tools that will help him today. To make room on the roster, manager Mike Hargrove demoted pitcher Joel Pineiro who will be sent to Triple-A Tacoma to make room for the pitching phenom.
The tigers ended their five game losing streak last night behind the hitting of Chris Shelton and Placido Polanco. Today the tall man (6’6”) Sean Douglass is on the mound. In his last start, an 8-4 loss at the Oakland A’s, Douglass pitched 2.2 innings and recorded an astonishing seven earned runs. However, the right-handed pitcher had won three of his previous five starts with two no decisions and an ERA of 2.00. The bad news is that the Tigers are 3-7 in Douglass’ last ten starts and have a 1-5 record in their last six games.
PICK! SEATTLE +112
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