Pittsburgh Pirates vs Detroit Tigers Prediction 5-17-2023 MLB Picks

The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Detroit Tigers meet Wednesday in MLB action from Comerica Park. This will be the conclusion of a quick two-game set this week. On Tuesday in the opener, the Tigers took a shutout victory. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates took on the Orioles over the weekend, losing two of three games in that series. On Tuesday Pittsburgh was out-hit 10-5 in a 4-0 defeat. Starter Luis Ortiz gave up three earned in 3.0 innings with seven hits and four walks.

For the starter job in the Wednesday matchup the Pirates will go with Rich Hill. This year Hill is 3-3 with a 4.35 ERA in eight starts. He has 36 Ks in 41.1 innings. Hill is 85-62 with a 3.86 career ERA in 358 games (229 starts).

Detroit Tigers

Over on the Detroit side, they played the Mariners over the weekend and also lost two of three games. On Tuesday the Tigers scored all of their runs in the first three innings. Michael Lorenzen went 6.0 innings in the start with five hits and two walks.

It’ll be Eduardo Rodriguez in the starting role for Detroit on Wednesday. Over his eight starts this year Rodriguez is 4-2 with a 1.57 ERA and 47 Ks in 51.2 innings. Rodriguez is 73-46 with a 4.02 ERA in 184 games (178 starts) during his career.

The Pirates are 7-2 in their last nine versus a lefty starter and 23-52 in their last 75 Wednesday games. Pittsburgh is 16-38 in their last 54 in game two of a series.

Meanwhile, the Tigers are 10-3 in their last 13 versus the NL Central and the over is 5-1-1 in the last seven interleague games. The under is 12-5-1 in Detroit’s last 18 versus a team with a winning record.

ANDREW’S FREE PICK

I’ll stick with the Tigers in this one. We should have a pretty good starter battle here if both guys are on point, though. Rodriguez is 3-0 over his last trio with just one combined earned run over 20.2 innings. As for Hill, he’s got seven earned over his last three starts in 15.0 innings total. On Tuesday Detroit got a great pitching outing from Lorenzen, while the bullpen (Will Vest and Jose Cisnero—with zero hits, zero walks and five Ks between them) cleaned up nicely. I like Detroit to keep the momentum going in game two.