Detroit Tigers vs Boston Red Sox Picks and Predictions September 1st 2024

Tigers, Red Sox Making Push for Wild Card

The Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers end up in a tight race for the American League wild-card season finisher spots, with the two groups wanting to make major areas of strength for an in the last month of the time. As they get ready to envelop up their three-game series by Detroit on Sunday evening, each group is sticking to the conviction that they can in any case make a September flood.

Current Standings and Series Outline

The Red Sox (70-66) and the Tigers (69-68) are both following the Minnesota Twins, who presently hold the third and last wild-card spot. Boston is 3 1/2 games behind the Twins, while Detroit is five games back. With the edge for mistake contracting, the two groups realize that each game is critical.

In this series, Boston took the opener in additional innings on Friday, yet Detroit quickly returned with a 2-1 triumph on Saturday, because of a heavenly presentation from Tarik Skubal, who is arising as a #1 for the AL Cy Youthful Honor. Skubal pitched a profession high eight innings, holding the Red Sox to only one run.

“We’re going to keep it the same as we have all year,” Skubal said after the win. “We need to focus on winning each day’s game. We need to win (Sunday) and win the series.”

Red Sox Struggling to Build Momentum

The Red Sox have struggled to put together a winning streak of more than two games since the first week of August. Manager Alex Cora remains optimistic, though, emphasizing the importance of staying focused and believing in the team’s potential.

“We stay the course,” Cora said. “We actually believe we can do more. … Now we go. We’ve got to play better baseball, but it should be fun the rest of the way.”

Tyler O’Neill provided the only offense for Boston on Saturday with a first-inning home run, but the team was otherwise stymied by Skubal’s dominant pitching.

“That’s elite stuff,” O’Neill said. “I was definitely battling up there against him. I was just trying to get something over the plate I could handle. That was a good one, but it was pretty shut down after that.”

Pitching Matchup: Criswell vs. TBD

The Red Sox are expected to start Cooper Criswell (5-4, 4.34 ERA) in Sunday’s series finale. Criswell last pitched on Tuesday against the Toronto Blue Jays, allowing one run and five hits over 3 1/3 innings in a 6-3 victory. However, Criswell has struggled in August, posting a 6.43 ERA over five appearances, with more walks (nine) than strikeouts (six).

Criswell has faced the Tigers once before, earning a victory on June 1 when he gave up one run on four hits over five innings.

The Tigers have not yet announced their starting pitcher for Sunday’s game. Manager A.J. Hinch is likely to stack his lineup with left-handed hitters against the right-handed Criswell, aiming to exploit the platoon advantage.

“You’re going to get the (platoon) advantage a ton with just the way the league is comprised,” Hinch said. “It’s a fun lineup to write against a right-handed pitcher, and then you’re staring down at their bullpen wondering: When are they going to get a lefty up? And what is the situation going to be?”

Key Players to Watch

Detroit’s Kerry Carpenter, who had four RBIs in Friday’s game, including a three-run homer off left-hander Brennan Bernardino, could be a key player in Sunday’s matchup. Although Carpenter has struggled against lefties this season, he made a significant impact against Boston’s bullpen on Friday.

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“It’s a tough matchup,” Hinch said. “He did a good job of hanging in there and taking a good approach.”

Series Outlook

Both teams are in desperate need of wins as they chase down the final AL wild-card spot. The Tigers snapped a two-game losing streak with their victory on Saturday, following a season-high six-game winning streak that brought them back into the fringes of the wild-card race. The Red Sox, meanwhile, need to find consistency and string together some victories if they hope to overtake the teams ahead of them in the standings.

Sunday’s rubber game will be critical for both clubs as they continue their push for the postseason.