Detroit Tigers at Houston Astros 4/13/21 - MLB Picks & Predictions

By: Lance |

Last Updated: 04/12/2021 at 11:36 PM ET

The Detroit Tigers will look to steal another one when they meet up with the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park in game two of the series. The Tigers had lost four straight games after being swept on the road by the Indians before they beat the Astros in the series opener 6-2 to improve to 4-6 on the year. The Astros are still off to a solid start but it was their third straight loss and they’ve mustered just 6 runs across those three losses, dropping to 6-4 on the season.

Houston has had the bats going for a majority of this season and come in batting .280 as a team, ranking 4th in the MLB. It’s still a stacked lineup that boasts a ton of talent, Jose Altuve has refound his groove at the plate hitting .351 on the year. Left fielder Kyle Tucker has driven in a team-high 11 runs with 4 homers, and Yasmani Gurriel is hitting .355 with 3 RBIs. 

The veteran right-hander Jake Odorizzi will get his first start in an Astros uniform, he went down with an injury last season making just 4 starts for the Twins but in his nearly 10 years of service boasts a solid 3.92 ERA and 2.8 K/BB ratio. Who knows what we will see from Odorizzi in his first start in nearly a year, but if he can find his 2019 self he’ll no doubt be a key piece to the Astros rotation.

Detroit was able to snap a four-game win streak, but the issues at the plate this saeson are still very much a concern. The Tigers are hitting just .197 as a team, ranking 28th in the MLB in batting average, and have mustered just over 3 runs per game. Third baseman Jeimer Candelario has led the way in batting average (.235) and driven in 5 runs. While catcher Wilson Ramos has hit 4 solo homeruns to tie for 5th in the MLB while batting .273 on the year. 

The left-handed Matthew Boy will get the ball in his third start of the year, he’s pitched very well in both allowing 10 hits and 3 runs over his 13 innings of work. He’s struck out 10 in the process and after struggling in the shortened 2020 season looks to have found his stuff from 2019 when he made 32 starts and posted a 4.56 ERA with a 4.8 K/BB ratio.

The talent differential in this game is certainly there with the Astros expected to make the playoffs and the Tigers expected to finish near the bottom of the AL Central. With the Tigers pulling off the upset yesterday, I expect the Astros to get back to winning ways and handle the Tigers behind a much better offensive effort that the struggling Detroit bats simply are unable to keep up with. Final score prediction, Houston Astros win 7-4.

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