Pittsburgh at Detroit

Francisco Liriano is all the rage with his sizzling numbers, but that was against the Mets, Brewers, and Cubs. He hasn't seen an offense like first-place Detroit. The Tigers are tops in baseball in runs, batting average, and on-base percentage; plus 5th in slugging. Actually, Liriano has faced the Tigers before -- and has been awful, with a 5-7 record and a 5.93 ERA against them. The Pirates are 7-22 in their last 29 during game one of a series and 11-52 in their last 63 interleague road games. This Pittsburgh offense is not good, 19th in runs scored, 22nd in OBP with a team batting average of .243 (24th). That pop-gun offense faces ace Justin Verlander, who has struck out 69 in 59 innings. He has owned the Pirates in his career with a 3-0 record, and a 1.44 ERA against them allowing 10 hits in 25 innings! And the Pirates are 1-5 in the last six meetings in Detroit. This one won't be close. Play the Tigers on the Run-Line.