Guardians vs Tigers: Game 1 prediction, odds, injuries and picks

AL Central leaders, the Detroit Tigers, face off against rivals the Cleveland Guardians for the opener of their four-game series at Comerica Park on Thursday.

Detroit comes into this one at the top of its game, having just registered a series win against the St. Louis Cardinals in Missouri. The Guardians, on the other hand, are enduring a bit of a tough season, languishing in fourth place in the standings.

Here, we take a look at the odds for the game and how the action may play out on the field.

Guardians vs Tigers prediction

Taking the mound for the Guardians is ace Tanner Bibee, who has a 3-4 record, along with a 4.06 ERA and 35 strikeouts. In his last outing, Bibee appeared to struggle, giving up four earned runs in six innings against the Cincinnati Reds last Friday.

Cleveland Guardians v Cincinnati Reds - Source: Getty

At the plate, Steven Kwan, Jose Ramirez and Angel Martinez have impressed for the visitors.

For Detroit, 2024 World Series winner Jack Flaherty gets the nod to start. This season, Flaherty has fared marginally worse than his opposite number, with a 2-5 record, a 4.44 ERA and 56 total strikeouts. He looked sharp against the Blue Jays last Friday, giving up only two earned runs in 5.2 innings.

With the bat, Kerry Carpenter, Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson and Javier Baez have done much of the heavy lifting.

Though the pitching matchup is relatively even in terms of stats, Detroit's sky-high confidence, entering this contest after some fantastic performances of late, gives them a clear edge for this game.

Prediction: Detroit Tigers 7, Cleveland Guardians 4

Odds

Money Line: Cleveland Guardians +107, Detroit Tigers -127

Run Line: Cleveland +1.5 (-196), Detroit -1.5 (+146)

Total Runs: Over 8.5 (+106), Under 8.5 (-141)

Injury report

Cleveland Guardians injuries:

Lane Thomas: 10-day IL (Wrist)

Ben Lively: 15-day IL (Forearm)

Paul Sewald: 15-day IL (Shoulder)

Shane Bieber: 60-day IL (Elbow)

Erik Sabrowski: 60-day IL (Elbow)

John Means: 60-day IL (Elbow)

Trevor Stephan: 60-day IL (Elbow)

David Fry: 60-day IL (Elbow)

Sam Hentges: 60-day IL (Shoulder)

Detroit injuries:

Matt Vierling: 10-day IL (Shoulder)

Casey Mize: 15-day IL (Hamstring)

Reese Olson: 15-day IL (Finger)

Alex Cobb: 15-day IL (Hip)

Alex Lange: 60-day IL (Lat)

Ty Madden: 60-day IL (Shoulder)

Jose Urquidy: 60-day IL (Elbow)

Sawyer Gipson-Long: 60-day IL (Hip)

Wenceel Perez: 60-day IL (Spine)

Parker Meadows: 60-day IL (Arm)

Expert picks

Both starting pitchers have looked slightly rusty this season, so this is a contest that hitters should find plenty of joy in. In an action-packed contest, Detroit's red-hot bats should have enough in them to power them to victory.

Money Line: Detroit Tigers -127

Run Line: Detroit -1.5 (+146)

Total Runs: Over 8.5 (+106)

About the author

Raghav Mehta is a baseball journalist at Sportskeeda awaiting results for a Bachelor's in Journalism from Delhi University. He enjoys highlighting the key battles between players at different stages of the game and analyzing the decisive moments upon which they hinge.

One of Raghav's favorite moments, which underscores this, was the Shohei Ohtani vs. Mike Trout clash in the 2023 WBC, where two of baseball's best players faced off against each other in the 9th inning. With the score 3-2 to Japan, Shohei eventually got the strikeout, which was absolute cinema.

Raghav is a Baltimore Orioles fan and is enjoying watching such an exciting young team compete at the top in a very competitive division.

Raghav has loved watching sports for as long as he can remember and realized he was pretty decent at writing his thoughts down at around the age of 14. Combining the two meant he had something he would enjoy doing every day, and he had identified that well before going to college.

Aside from work, Raghav enjoys playing sports, working out and watching movies.

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Edited by Ribin Peter

Guardians vs Tigers: Game 1 prediction, odds, injuries and picks - May 22, 2025