Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Detroit Tigers Preview, Prediction & Odds | June 19, 2025

The Pittsburgh Pirates are continuing their three-game interleague series on Thursday afternoon against the Detroit Tigers. With Wednesday’s game being postponed, Thursday will serve as a doubleheader. The Tigers won the opening game of the series with a 7-3 win. The Pirates are fifth in the NL Central with a 29-45 record and are sending veteran lefty Andrew Heaney to the mound. The Tigers lead the AL Central with a 47-27 record and have right-hander Tarik Skubal taking the bump.

Betting Odds

Team	Spread	Total Runs	Money Line
	+1.5 (+110)	Over 7.5 (+100)	+250
	-1.5 (-132)	Under 7.5 (-122)	-310

Apex Tale of The Tape

	Team Stats
3.18	Runs/G	4.84
.224	BA	.252
.301	OBP	.322
.334	SLG	.416
.635	OPS	.738
50	HR	89
68	SB	27
3.74	ERA	3.34
1.19	WHIP	1.18
7.53	K/9	8.54
.986	Fielding Percentage	.988
16-29	Saves	23-33

Projected Starting Pitchers H2H

Andrew Heaney	Player Stats	Tarik Skubal
3-5	W/L	7-2
3.33	ERA	1.99
78.1	IP	90.1
1.11	WHIP	0.81
24	K	9
59	BB	111

Key Stats

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates are looking to figure things out in the standings as they are fifth in the NL Central with a 29-44 record up to this point. The offense is absolutely brutal with a .225/.302/.336 slash line while scoring 3.18 runs per game so far this season. 

The Pittsburgh Pirates are coming off a 3-2 10-inning road loss against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday. Mitch Keller pitched well but did not factor into the decision as he allowed two runs over six innings of work.

Center fielder Oneil Cruz (13 HR, 25 SB) has been improving at the plate and has different ways of making an impact on the game. Veteran southpaw Andrew Heaney (3-5, 3.33 ERA) is coming off a loss against the Chicago Cubs where he allowed three runs on four hits with zero walks and seven strikeouts in six innings. 

Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers are doing extremely well as they are first in the AL Central with a 46-27 record up to this point. The Tigers are hitting at a solid level as the team is ninth with a .733 team OPS while scoring 4.81 runs per game thus far. 

The Tigers are coming off an 8-4 home loss on Sunday to the Cincinnati Reds and the team was 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. The team saw four of the six pitchers used in the game allow at least one run in the loss.

First baseman Spencer Torkelson (.831 OPS, 16 HRs) has been clicking at the plate and is a driving force of why the team is doing so well. Right-hander Tarik Skubal (7-2, 1.99 ERA) is looking to continue dominating as he is coming off a win over the Baltimore Orioles, as he pitched seven shutout innings and allowed three hits with two walks and six strikeouts. 

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Detroit Tigers Betting Trends

	Betting Stats
5-5	W/L 10	6-4
34-40	ATS	40-34
28-43-3	O/U	36-35-3

Prediction

The road/home splits have shown a bit of a gap for these starting pitchers as Andrew Heaney is 1-3 with a 3.72 ERA and a .206 batting average against in 38.2 innings (seven road starts) while Tarik Skubal is 5-0 with a 1.72 ERA and a 0.77 WHIP in 47.0 innings (seven home starts) so far this season. These bullpens also show a gap this season as Pittsburgh is 18th with a 3.99 reliever ERA while Detroit is 14th with a 3.76 bullpen ERA right now. Go with the Detroit Tigers to win as they are clearly the better team here. 

Final Pick

Detroit Tigers -1.5 (-132)