Detroit Tigers vs Boston Red Sox Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 04/17/26

The Detroit Tigers will make the trip to Boston for a weekend series with the Red Sox starting Friday, as they find themselves in the midst of a 6-game winning streak. Meanwhile, the Red Sox are coming off a win over Minnesota on Wednesday — which snapped a 2-game skid. This will be just the third home series for Boston, which is 3-3 SU at Fenway thus far. Casey Mize will take the mound for Detroit, looking to improve his statistical profile. Two of his 3 starts were great – 1 earned run allowed with 5+ strikeouts – but his start at Minnesota was forgettable, as he allowed 5 earned runs on 7 hits and 3 walks in just 4.1 innings. Furthermore, he hasn’t had much success against this Boston lineup. Though a limited sample, the Red Sox have a combined .341 average against Mize with only 8 collective strikeouts in 44 at-bats. 

Newly-acquired left-hander Ranger Suarez will take the hill for Boston, coming off an outing that showed why the Red Sox were after him in the offseason. He pitched 6 innings of shutout ball against the Cardinals last Saturday, yielding just 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6. It was great to see this type of effort, even if it was against St. Louis, as he surrendered 8 runs on 13 hits in the 8.1 innings prior. Like Mize, Suarez doesn’t have much history against the Detroit lineup, but his sample is a bit better than his counterpart’s. Suarez has held this Detroit roster to a .229 batting average in 35 combined at-bats. Boston being the favorite in this game makes sense given they are at home with a rest advantage, but I’m not completely sold on Suarez being someone that we can back right now. His advanced statistical profile is concerning, as his hard hit rate and barrel rates are way up, his swinging strike rate is down and his K-BB ratio is also way down. Not to mention, the Tigers have been very good in Mize’s non-divisional starts since the start of 2024, boasting a 22-13 SU record. It’s Tigers or pass for me here.

Tigers vs Red Sox prediction: Detroit ML (+110) available at time of publishing. Playable to +100.

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