Cleveland Guardians vs Detroit Tigers Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 09/18/25

The Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers finish a series on Thursday afternoon, and this game has suddenly taken on extreme importance. The Guardians have won 6 games in a row, and 11 of their last 12, and in so doing, they have closed the gap to just 4.5 games behind the Tigers. That is a lot with barely a week to play, but they have another series head-to-head to finish the season. A Detroit loss on Thursday puts the Central very much in play. But not to fear, the Tigers have Tarik Skubal going. Can baseball’s best pitcher will his team to victory? I certainly think so, and I am backing the Tigers -1.5.

Skubal left his last start with pain in his side, but all scans came back clean, and he says he is ready to go on Thursday. The Guards have yet to score on Skubal this season, a streak of 16 straight innings across two starts. What is the point of having a dominant pitcher if not for him to come up big in the season’s most clutch spot to date? I am backing Skubal all day, and if I lose with Skubal, I just lose. On the other side is Tanner Bibee. Bibee is fine, but he’s not likely to match Skubal when it counts. The Cleveland bullpen has also worked a ton lately, and sooner or later that has to give. We need the Detroit offense to wake up, but if they score 2 or 3 runs, that might be enough for Skubal to hand us the cover. This is a bet on the most dominant pitcher in baseball to close out his team’s season when they need him.

Guardians vs Tigers Prediction: Tigers -1.5 (+110) available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number.