Tigers at Pirates Prediction: Odds, expert picks, starting pitchers, betting trends, and stats for July 21
The Tigers became the first team in the league to reach 60 wins as Detroit beat the Rangers, 2-1 on Sunday Night Baseball. That win avoided a reverse sweep to Texas and the test doesn't get an easier when they travel to Pittsburgh to face the CY Young favorite.
Pittsburgh is coming off a series where they were swept by the White Sox and outscored 27-7 (sigh). As a Pirates fan, this is the only day of the week we look forward to — Skenes day.
Let's dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two. We've got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
Follow Rotoworld Player News for the latest fantasy and betting player news and analysis all season long.
Game details & how to watch Tigers at Pirates
Date: Monday, July 21, 2025
Time: 6:40PM EST
Site: PNC Park
City: Pittsburgh, PA
Network/Streaming: FDSNDT, SNP
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.
Odds for the Tigers at the Pirates
The latest odds as of Monday:
Moneyline: Tigers (+102), Pirates (-122)
Spread: Pirates -1.5
Total: 7.0 runs
Probable starting pitchers for Tigers at Pirates
Pitching matchup for July 21, 2025: Jack Flaherty vs. Paul Skenes
Tigers: Jack Flaherty, (5-9, 4.65 ERA)Last outing: 5.0 Innings Pitched, 2 Earned Runs Allowed, 4 Hits Allowed, 2 Walks, and 7 Strikeouts
Pirates: Paul Skenes, (4-8, 2.01 ERA)Last outing: 5.0 Innings Pitched, 2 Earned Runs Allowed, 5 Hits Allowed, 0 Walks, and 6 Strikeouts
Rotoworld still has you covered with all the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!
Expert picks & predictions for tonight's game between the Tigers and the Pirates
Rotoworld Best Bet
Please bet responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700.
Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Monday's game between the Tigers and the Pirates:
Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is staying away from a play on the Moneyline.
Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Detroit Tigers at +1.5.
Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the over on the Game Total of 7.0.
Want even more MLB best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert MLB Predictions page from NBC.
Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Tigers at Pirates
The Pirates have lost 10 of their last 11 games
The Under is 4-1 in the Tigers' last 5 road games
The Pirates are 9-11 in Skenes' 20 starts
Skenes has allowed 2 earned runs or less in 17 of 20 starts
The Tigers are 6-13 in Flaherty's 19 starts
If you're looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Follow our experts on socials to keep up with all the latest content from the staff:
Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)
Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
Trysta Krick (@Trysta_Krick)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Jake Ferguson's $52 million contract exposes Cowboys' draft mistake
Jake Ferguson's new contract should be a happy day for the Cowboys front office. A fourth round pick turned into Dak Prescott's security blanket for the future. But beneath the high-fives and congratulations is an underhanded admittance that Dallas whiffed on a draft pick not too long ago. A year after Ferguson was drafted, the Cowboys selected tight end Luke Schoonmaker in the second round of the 2023 draft. At the time, Ferguson only had 19 receptions for 174 yards his rookie year. Dalton Schultz was the starter that season but the Cowboys moved on from him. Schoonmaker, out of the University of Michigan, was expected to be an excellent blocking and pass-catching tight end. Instead it was Ferguson who stood out as a secure target over the middle while Schoonmaker struggled. The former Wolverine only had 27 receptions for 241 yards and one touchdown last season. He hasn't proven worthy of a second round investment. The Ferguson contract shows the Cowboys front office is admitting defeat on Schoonmaker. He has two years left on his rookie deal and still has a chance to prove himself, but Ferguson has taken the mantle as the primary tight end. It will take an injury or catastrophic shift if Dallas was to ever view Schoonmaker as a good pick. It's a rare miss for a front office that has drafted some elite talent. MORE: Cowboys' Jaydon Blue shows off one-handed catch in pursuit of starting running back role
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
LeBron James and Maverick Carter were seen with Nikola Jokic's agent
There has been a lot of talk lately that LeBron James, one way or another, is on his way out as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers and that they will look to essentially replace him with another superstar within the next couple of years. The belief is that the Lakers will try to go after either Giannis Antetokounmpo or Nikola Jokić next summer or during the summer of 2027. They reportedly want to keep a lot of salary cap space free for that purpose, which has led some to feel that they will essentially punt the next season or two and not try to win the NBA championship during that time. On his Instagram account, Misko Raznatovic, Jokic's agent, posted a photo of him with James and James' business manager, Maverick Carter, along with a cryptic caption. 'The summer of 2025 is the perfect time to make big plans for the fall of 2026!' This will undoubtedly spark speculation about James' future beyond the next handful of months. There have already been many rumors that he will eventually ask the Lakers to trade him soon, even though he exercised his player option for the 2025-26 season. Jokic, the three-time NBA MVP, who many still feel is the best basketball player in the world, can opt out of his current contract in the 2027 offseason. He just became the third player in league history to average a triple-double for an entire season, but he lost out on the 2024-25 regular-season MVP award to the Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: LeBron James and Maverick Carter were seen with Nikola Jokic's agent
New York Times
17 minutes ago
- New York Times
Giants to promote pitching prospect Carson Whisenhunt for debut Monday vs. Pirates
SAN FRANCISCO — With their rotation in a bind and the losses beginning to pile up, the San Francisco Giants will seek a boost from their top pitching prospect on Monday. The team will promote left-hander Carson Whisenhunt from Triple-A Sacramento to make his major-league debut with a home start against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Advertisement 'We've been waiting for this for a little bit now,' Giants manager Bob Melvin said following the Giants' 5-3 loss on Sunday that capped the New York Mets' three-game sweep. 'We thought maybe he'd be here last year, too. With what's gone on here … there's a need for it. It'll be exciting to see him pitch.' What's gone on will have to change quickly for the Giants to stay in the National League playoff picture. They've lost nine of 11, and their rotation is down to three healthy and established pitchers — All-Star right-hander Logan Webb, All-Star left-hander Robbie Ray and 42-year-old right-hander Justin Verlander — after right-hander Landen Roupp was placed on the 15-day injured list with elbow inflammation and erratic right-hander Hayden Birdsong LaLooshed himself to Triple-A Sacramento. So the Giants will turn to Whisenhunt, a fringe top-100 prospect who was widely considered the best collegiate left-hander in his 2022 MLB Draft class before a positive test for a performance-enhancing substance resulted in a suspension that caused him to miss his junior season at East Carolina University. The Giants thought they got a steal when they selected Whisenhunt in the second round, and although he didn't post overpowering numbers in the upper minors, his changeup consistently grades out as a plus major-league pitch. Whisenhunt, 24, compiled a 4.42 ERA in 18 starts while spending his second season in the Pacific Coast League, which tends to warp most pitching statistics. His progress could be measured in a walk rate (2.6 per nine innings) that he nearly halved from the previous year. He's also striking out fewer batters, though (7.9 per nine innings, down from 11.6 in 2024). The Giants won't expect Whisenhunt to dominate. They'll be happy to receive five or six competitive innings one day after relying on a bullpen game against the Mets. Giants catcher Patrick Bailey, a fellow North Carolina native, said he's confident Whisenhunt will have what it takes to compete. Advertisement 'I'm very excited for him,' Bailey said. 'Awesome dude, awesome player. I think he'll be ready. He's got really good stuff. Obviously, he's got the plus-plus changeup, and I hear the fastball command is getting better and he's throwing some different breaking balls. It's well deserved.' The Giants could air a Carson special Monday night. They didn't use Whisenhunt's former Sacramento rotation mate, right-hander Carson Seymour, in Sunday's bullpen game. So he'd be available to back up Whisenhunt. 'It just depends on how efficient he is,' Melvin said. The bullpen game — which included two home runs off right-hander Randy Rodríguez after he'd allowed just one in his first 43 appearances — wasn't the reason the Giants dropped their series finale against the Mets. The Giants didn't get any offensive production outside of two home runs from third baseman Matt Chapman and, continuing a cruel theme, went hitless in seven at-bats with runners in scoring position. Mets closer Edwin Diaz struck out Willy Adames and Chapman to strand the bases loaded in the ninth, concluding a series in which the Giants went 0-for-23 with runners in scoring position. According to research by NBC Sports Bay Area, it was the first time since 1931 that the Giants played a series in which they had at least 20 at-bats with runners in scoring position and failed to get a hit in any of them. The tragicomic detail: They would've been credited with one in the third inning Sunday when Adames failed to check his swing and sent a roller up the third-base line. But Heliot Ramos' base-running foibles continued. He got hung up between second and third, and Mets third baseman Ronny Mauricio tagged him to complete a fielder's choice. Of course, there isn't much Whisenhunt can do to alleviate the Giants' most persistent problem this season. The best he can do is keep the team in the game. He's coming off a shortened outing last Sunday against Oklahoma City in which he threw 68 pitches while allowing a run in 3 2/3 innings, but he had an earlier run of four consecutive seven-inning starts and twice earned PCL pitcher of the week honors. On July 12, Whisenhunt represented the Giants in the All-Star Futures Game in Atlanta and retired both batters he faced. Advertisement The Giants must make space on the 40-man and active roster for Whisenhunt, who was scratched from his start for Sacramento on Saturday night and added to the major-league taxi squad. After Sunday's game, there was a locker in the Giants clubhouse with a No. 88 jersey hanging in it. A duffel bag and a pair of dimpled, ostrich leather boots signified Whisenhunt's arrival. Roupp, another fellow North Carolina native who brings a strong boot game to the clubhouse, has competition now. 'I've seen him since we competed against each other in college,' Roupp said. 'I'm excited. I think it's past due. He's been throwing pretty well this year and threw well last year. 'Everybody knows his changeup is really good, but the other pitches are coming around, too.' The Giants need their offense to come around if they hope to remain relevant in September and beyond. But they also need to stabilize a pitching staff that has thrown the most bullpen innings of any team since the All-Star break. Chapman said he has no doubt that club president Buster Posey will remain an active buyer as Thursday's trade deadline approaches. 'It sucks to lose 9 of 11 and slip out of the standings a little bit, but we're still right there,' Chapman said. 'We'll play a lot of the teams that are right in front of us and right in the thick of it with us. Buster has made it clear: We go out and get Rafi (Rafael Devers), and it makes sense to continue to try to improve this team for this year and the foreseeable future. So I think we expect to add and to continue to get better and to continue to make a push to make the playoffs.'
