Game 17 Preview Guards/Tigers – 4/18 1:10 PM EST.

Let’s Play Two!

Game One

After Monday’s game was rained out, the Detroit Tigers will host the Cleveland Guardians for a doubleheader on Tuesday. In Game 1, Cleveland will send Hunter Gaddis (0-1, 8.53 ERA) to the mound while Detroit will counter with Matthew Boyd (0-1, 4.00 ERA).

With a doubleheader in store, both teams will have to manage their bullpen on Tuesday and that would certainly seem to favor the Guardians. Cleveland has a 3.23 bullpen ERA on the season while Detroit has a 5.46 bullpen ERA. However, the Tigers have won three in a row entering Tuesday.

Guardians Notes

Starting pitcher, Hunter Gaddis is coming off a rough outing against the New York Yankees (3.0 innings, eight earned runs on eight hits, and two walks). He was also inefficient in his first start of the season (3.2 innings, four runs on five hits and one walk) but much better against Oakland in his second start, allowing zero runs on one hit and two walks in six innings. The 25-year-old has recorded just seven strikeouts so far this season.

Cleveland scores 4.62 runs per game (18th) and hits .239 (19th) with a .689 OPS (25th). The Guardians have hit eight home runs (29th) and stolen a league-leading 25 bases. The pitching staff has compiled a 4.14 ERA (12th) and a 1.23 WHIP (7th) with eight quality starts (3rd).

Tiger’s Notes

Detroit won three straight before Sunday’s series finale with San Francisco was rained out, breathing hope into the Tigers clubhouse. They rallied from five down to beat the Giants on Saturday, stealing the win on a Miguel Cabrera single in extra innings. A series victory certainly provides a boost to a Detroit team that was written off practically before the season began.

Boyd goes for the Tigers in Game 1. He has allowed two runs in each start, where he went a touch under five innings pitched. He currently sits in the 80th percentile in Average Exit Velocity and the 89th percentile in Hard Hit Rate. Given that the Guardians rank last in both of these, Boyd should have a tremendous advantage over Gaddis.

The Tigers average 3.57 runs per game (28th) and hit .208 (30th) with a .601 OPS (30th). They’re 28th in MLB in home runs (10) and 23rd in stolen bases (7) this year. The Detroit pitching staff has compiled a 5.87 ERA (29th) and a 1.41 WHIP (21st) with one quality start (29th).