The Detroit Tigers are coming off of an 11-game homestand and are in the middle of a four-game win streak, and they will hope for that to continue as they prepare to face a struggling Houston Astros offense.
In their last five games, the Tigers’ pitching staff has surrendered just seven runs. That has come against two top-15 offenses in the San Diego Padres and the Baltimore Orioles.
The Astros’ offense they are set to take on currently ranks tied for No. 24 in MLB with a team wRC+ of just 87.
Houston does also have one of the best pitching staffs in all of baseball, but Detroit’s offense will be lucking out since they are missing the two best starting pitchers the Astros have to offer now that the probables for the series are set.
Monday night will be the start of the series in Houston at 8:10 p.m. ET.
The Tigers will be throwing Jack Flaherty with the Astros going with Ronel Blanco.
Flaherty just plays better while with Detroit, and he looks back to the form that he started last year with. He has a 2.63 ERA over five starts with a 1.024 WHIP and 11.2 K/9.
Blanco is known for throwing a no-hitter last season in his first game of the year, but he has been off to a much quieter start during this campaign.
The second game of the series, Tuesday at 8:10 p.m. ET, will see Reese Olson on the mound for Detroit with Ryan Gusto taking the ball for Houston.
Olson is on a red-hot pitching streak with 12.1 scoreless innings over his last two starts. His ERA is down to 3.29 and he is looking as good as he has in his young career.
Gusto is a rookie who is starting out of necessity for the Astros, but he has been very solid with a 3.68 ERA over his three career starts.
The final game of the series will take place on Wednesday at 2:10 p.m. ET.
It will be the rookie sensation Jackson Jobe pitching for the Tigers and most likely Hayden Wesneski doing so for Houston.
Jobe has been solid in his full rookie campaign with a 2.70 ERA, but he will look to hone in his control and start generating some more strikeouts.
Wesneski is in line for the start, but he did have some velocity issues in his last outing that could cause the Astros to rest him.
