Lonte Smith said he will hit the Tigers moneyline if bookmakers dare to post anything north of +105 when Paul Skenes visits Comerica Park. Smith called Detroit “amazing at home,” noting the club has remained well above .500 in Motown even through its recent mini-slump. He argued that Tarik Skubal is one of the very few arms who would still be favored over Skenes, so if the Tigers pivot to a different starter such as Jack Flaherty the market could flip Detroit into a dog. Smith is happy to take that plus money, pointing out Pittsburgh has merely been “playing okay” of late while Detroit’s lineup has remained competitive at home. The plan is simple: any plus price on Detroit, fire on the Tigers.

Kenny G said he will back the Tigers on the run line (-1.5) and is comfortable playing the full-game Under 7 when Tarik Skubal faces Andrew Heaney in Game 1 of Thursday’s double-header. Skubal has been lights-out all season—7-2 record, 1.99 ERA—and blanked Baltimore for seven frames in his last outing. Pittsburgh’s offense is anemic, ranking last in runs, 29th in batting average, and mustering just three total runs across its last three games. Heaney has allowed six homers over his past four starts and gets little help from a Pirates bullpen sporting a 4.09 ERA. Detroit’s relief corps has slipped to 3.72 ERA but still grades as average, while the lineup is fifth in runs and top-seven in slugging. Unders are 23-11-2 in Pirates road games and 20-13-3 in Tigers home contests, so Kenny projects a 4-1 or 5-1 type score that cashes the run line yet stays below the seven-run total.

Just A Bet Outside fired on the Pirates team total UNDER 1.5 runs at +158 (half-unit) for Game 1 in Detroit. Pittsburgh owns a league-worst 38 WRC+ versus left-handed pitching over the past three weeks and has scored two or fewer in six of its last ten games against southpaws. Four of the last six lefties to face them have worked seven innings, including Matthew Boyd’s one-hitter. Tarik Skubal has allowed 1,1,1,0 runs across his last four starts and sports a 0.87 WHIP, prompting the host to dub him “the best starting pitcher on planet Earth right now.” With the Tigers bullpen fully rested after an off-day and likely needing only six outs, the tout likes Detroit to keep the Bucs at one run or fewer, noting the same outcome has hit in four straight Skubal starts.

Just A Bet Outside said Tarik Skubal’s strikeout prop is worth attacking again in the makeup game with Pittsburgh. The Pirates own the sixth–highest K-rate against left-handed pitching over the last three weeks (≈27%), and Skubal has punched out 111 hitters in only 90.1 innings. He has cleared six strikeouts in 12-of-14 starts, sporting a massive 35.8% strikeout rate at Comerica compared to 29.4% on the road. With near-identical K splits versus lefties and righties, the matchup profile plus home comforts point to another 6-plus strikeout outing, making his over a strong betting and DFS play.

Eric Lindquist said Tarik Skubal is “the best pitcher in baseball right now” and expects Detroit to handle Andrew Heaney in the first game of Thursday’s double-header. He pointed to the spacious dimensions of Comerica Park that turn hard contact into extra-base hits for Detroit’s lineup, while Skubal’s 29% strike-out rate and sub-2.50 xERA should neutralize a light-hitting Pirates order. Lindquist wants Detroit –1.5 before the market re-opens, noting the price will almost certainly be shorter after Wednesday’s rainout erased the original number.

Cash Out Sports Picks backed the Detroit Tigers to win and cover against Pittsburgh. Rookie ace Paul Skenes has been dazzling yet receives three runs or fewer of support in two-thirds of his outings, and the Pirates rank dead last at 3.18 runs per game, dipping to 2.94 on the road where they are a woeful 10-26. Detroit sits top-five in scoring (4.84 R/G), owns a 25-11 record at Comerica Park, and should eventually force Skenes out before exploiting a thin Pittsburgh bullpen. The Tigers’ combination of offensive firepower and dominant home record pushed the tout to the Detroit side.

Eric Pathi advised taking the Pittsburgh Pirates at +270 on the moneyline as a classic value play. Pathi noted that MLB teams priced at -300 or shorter actually own a losing record this season, making the underdog side profitable in the long run. Thursday’s rainout gave both clubs an extra day of rest, which Pathi believes helps Pittsburgh’s thin bullpen. He questioned paying -330 behind Detroit ace Tarik Skubal, pointing out that Skubal rarely works beyond five innings, forcing Detroit to lean on a mediocre middle-relief corps. Books are only offering +0.5 runs at +112 on the Pirates, a signal to Pathi that oddsmakers expect a one-run game. Combining the systemic fade of massive favorites, the bullpen edge created by the rainout, and the tight run-line pricing, Pathi labeled the Pirates outright win as his complimentary ‘value play of the day.’

Kenny G labeled Detroit at -300 his "lock of the day" even though the number is huge. Tarik Skubal has allowed just one earned run across his last four starts and now sports a 1.99 ERA with deeper pitch counts, giving the Tigers a massive edge on the mound over Andrew Heaney and a 4.09 ERA Pittsburgh bullpen. Detroit’s pen still grades top-10, while the Pirates rank dead last in runs and slugging percentage and are just 10-25 on the road. Add in Comerica Park trends—Tigers 24-11 at home and both clubs cashing unders (Pirates 23-10-2 to the under on the road, Tigers 20-12-3)—and Kenny also likes the full-game under 7 and a no-run first inning, but the primary recommendation is laying the big price with Detroit because, as he put it, “we don’t care about price on the lock of the day.”

Just A Bet Outside said the Tigers are a slam-dunk money-line piece with Tarik Skubal on the hill. Detroit is 10-4 overall and 5-1 at Comerica when the left-hander starts, and Pittsburgh’s team total opened at just 2.5 runs. Skubal owns a ridiculous 32.7% K-rate against only 2.7% walks and has allowed three or fewer runs in eight of his last nine turns. The Pirates remain a bottom-five offense versus southpaws, so the tout projected that two or three Tiger runs will be plenty of cushion. Detroit’s high-leverage bullpen arms are fully rested, giving him confidence to lay the ML or roll the club into parlays.

Just A Bet Outside highlighted Tariq Skubal as a smash strikeout play against the Pirates, who strike out 26.9% of the time versus southpaws (6th highest in MLB). Skubal owns 111 strikeouts in just 90.1 innings, registering 6+ punch-outs in 12 of 14 starts. One of those two misses came way back on Opening Day against the Dodgers, so his recent form is spotless. He is even better at Comerica, sporting a 35.8% home K-rate compared to 29.4% on the road, and his change-up keeps both lefties and righties honest (nearly identical split K-rates). The tout advised taking the over on his strikeout prop and slotting Skubal into DFS lineups as an anchor.

Matt Perrault officially fired on the Pirates team-total under 2.5 runs at –138, doubling down on his earlier Scoobal fade but with the concrete line now posted. He rattled off just how brutal Pittsburgh’s offense has been: only 235 total runs (worst in MLB), a –58 run differential, and single-game outputs of 3-2-1-2-2-5-3 over the last week-plus. For context, the division-rival Cubs have plated 390 runs while even the light-hitting Royals and Rockies sit at 243 and 255. Perrault contrasted that impotence with Tarik Scoobal’s recent dominance—Detroit’s staff has allowed exactly 1, 1 and 0 runs in the southpaw’s last three starts and Scoobal himself hasn’t surrendered more than one earned in four straight outings. Given Scoobal’s Cy-Young-caliber form and the Pirates’ complete lack of punch, Perrault sees virtually no path for Pittsburgh to reach three runs and is happy to lay the juice on the 2.5 under.

Cash Out Sports Picks advised betting the Detroit Tigers money-line behind ace Tarik Skubal. Detroit has won four of Skubal’s last five starts and he owns an absurd 1.72 ERA at Comerica while going 5-0 there. The Pirates hit just .225 as a club, and although rookie Paul Skenes is talented, the tout trusts the Tigers’ superior lineup and bullpen to prevail when their ace is on the bump.