It’s the same old story for the Detroit Tigers, who haven’t made the MLB playoffs since 2014.
Despite an 18-13 record, they are tied for 26th in the majors in weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+) and strike out at a 24.2 percent rate, which ranks in the bottom-third of the sport, according to FanGraphs.
Still, the Tigers are hot, winning four straight series ahead of Friday’s meeting with the New York Yankees in The Bronx.
Tigers starter Reese Olson comes in with an 0-4 record.
He let up one earned run and struck out eight hitters over seven innings in his April 24 outing against the Royals, but sour offense and a bullpen meltdown led to an 8-0 loss.
Olson has made encouraging progress since his rookie season, having allowed zero home runs through 28¹/₃ innings, but his high hard-hit rate suggests he’s due, especially against a Yankees team that’s averaging at least one per game and ranks second in the sport with 41.
Yankees starter Marcus Stroman has enjoyed a superb career against Detroit, with a 1.75 ERA and 6.5 strikeouts per nine innings.
His consistency has been a bit spiky through his first five starts in pinstripes, but Stroman has pulled ground balls out of a hat, which is another enticing edge for the Yankees against these Detroit hitters.
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The Yankees enter this series off a disappointing four-game set in Baltimore in which they lost three games to their division rivals, scoring a total of six runs and no more than two in any game.
They dropped Thursday’s series finale, 7-2.
They are 8-5 at home this season, although they only split a four-game set with the Athletics when they last played in The Bronx.
The play: Yankees -1.5 runs (+135, Caesars Sportsbook)
