Veteran pitcher Alex Cobb on the mound for the Cleveland Guardians. (Photo credit: David Richard, Imagn Images) If that happens again, Major League Baseball will have to do something about its playoff format. For whatever reason, the underdogs seem to be taking full advantage of this format. Last year, three of the four wild-card winners took out the higher seeds, and the World Series matched two teams who wouldn’t have gotten in under the old rules.
But we’re still a long way from that possibility. For now, here’s a look at the best bets on the board for Oct. 9.
Cleveland Guardians vs. Detroit Tigers
This is where the Tigers’ brilliant run smacks into the reality that outside of Tarik Skubal, Detroit doesn’t really have another pitching option. The Tigers have performed brilliantly to get this far, but they only have one ace and an outstanding bullpen to try to get them through three more games.
That’s not going to be enough against Cleveland. The Guardians were always the worst possible matchup for Detroit because Cleveland likes to play the exact same way. The Tigers will have every pitcher available besides Skubal and Reese Olson, but the Guardians plan to go with Alex Cobb, who looked good in his final two starts of the season.
Cobb did not pitch well away from Cleveland, but he only got one start on the road and it was at Minnesota. Detroit is far more pitcher-friendly than the Twins’ Target Field, which is one of the reasons the Tigers have roared back in the second half of the season. The Detroit bullpen is built for Comerica Park and its spacious dimensions, but the same is true for the Cleveland bullpen.
Detroit might have evened the series last time out, but that doesn’t mean the Tigers have solved Cleveland pitching. The Guardians have put up 17 scoreless frames out of 18, and their bullpen seems the fresher having multiple starters it can count on for five or more innings.
Guardians moneyline (-110 at BetMGM)
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New York Yankees vs. Kansas City Royals
This year, Schmidt has been a shade sharper than in 2022, but he also had the benefit of facing a few punchless teams. Kansas City hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire with its hitting, but the Royals believe they have the better starter in Seth Lugo.
The Royals’ pitchers get to feast on a struggling New York lineup that went 3-for-19 with runners in scoring position through the first two games. Aaron Judge is 2-for-23 in his last six playoff games dating to the 2022 ALCS, and Giancarlo Stanton has started this series 1-for-8.
What’s more, the ALDS schedule fell in a way that allowed Cole Ragans to pitch two games on normal rest if the Royals landed in a Game 5. A win here would ensure Kansas City could do no worse than having Ragans go in either Game 5 in New York or Game 1 in the ALCS against Cleveland or Detroit. That’s a nice extra incentive for the home team.
Royals moneyline (-102 at FanDuel)
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