Justin Verlander will get his first start of the ALCS on Tuesday afternoon as the Detroit Tigers play host to the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of the best-of-seven series.
Boston and Detroit split the first two games of the ALCS at Fenway Park last week, with the Red Sox winning Game 2 by a 6-5 score on Sunday night. Verlander has a 3-4 record with a 3.63 ERA over his 11 career starts against the Red Sox.
Verlander will face John Lackey, 11-13 on the year.
View Boston Red Sox vs Detroit Tigers Odds and Stats.
Sportsbooks such as Sportsbook had installed the Tigers as -140 moneyline favorites in this particular MLB matchup. The total, meanwhile, was set early at 7.5 before betting at Sportsbook started to move the line.
The MLB Power Rankings show a disparity between these teams, with the Tigers rated this week at No. 16 and the Red Sox sitting at No. 4.
How They Match Up:
Scoring stats point to some edges in this matchup. The game features Detroit's No. 2-ranked scoring average of 4.85 runs per game, against a Red Sox offense rated No. 1 and scoring 5.27 runs per game. The Tigers have averaged 9.94 hits per game to date this season, more than the Red Sox hitters have managed (9.6 per nine innings).
Pitching and defensive stats are important baseball handicapping factors and Detroit has the No. 7-ranked defense. In the other dugout, the Red Sox own the No. 13 mark in runs allowed.
A few Red Sox at Tigers trends to consider:
Boston is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Boston's last 12 games
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Boston's last 7 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 13 of Boston's last 18 games when playing Detroit
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Detroit's last 14 games
Detroit is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Detroit's last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 13 of Detroit's last 18 games when playing Boston
Next up:
Boston at Detroit, Wednesday, October 16th
