Tigers at Indians 9/14/18 - MLB Picks & Predictions

AL Central Division foes will battle on Friday night, when the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians open up a series from Progressive Field. The Tigers were swept by visiting Houston this week and lost each of the three games by one run each. Detroit has lost four straight games overall and has fallen to 28 games below the .500 mark.

Twenty-seven year old southpaw Matthew Boyd (9-12 4.11 ERA) will take the mound for the Tigers in this matchup. In his last start, Boyd allowed just one run and struck out 11 batters during a 4-3 victory versus St. Louis. The Cleveland Indians are 18 games above .500 overall and will be the first team in the majors to clinch their division title. On Wednesday, the Indians managed just one hit during a 3-1 loss at Tampa Bay. All-Star 3B Jose Ramirez homered for Cleveland, who leads Minnesota by 14.5 games for first place.

Cleveland skipper Terry Francona will turn to thirty-three year old righty Josh Tomlin (1-5 6.63 ERA) on Friday. Tomlin has been pitching out of the bullpen lately and has surrendered 22 home runs in 55 plus innings.