The Cleveland Guardians are excited to face Tarik Skubal on Saturday afternoon. Would they rather have to deal with countless replacements from the Tigers? Of course, but they're glad they persevered, getting through Game 4 and forcing a fifth and deciding game in their American League Division series in the process.

On Thursday night, Guardians pinch hitter David Fry hit a 2-run home run in the seventh inning to give Cleveland the lead for good as the Guardians won the game 5-4.

The victory ended a string of 11 straight losses for Cleveland in elimination games dating back to Game 6 of the 1997 World Series.

As previously mentioned, Detroit will send Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal to the mound in hopes of reaching the ALCS for the first time since 2013. He will be opposite Matthew Boyd.

Let’s dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two.

We have all the information and analysis you need to know before the game, including the latest on how to catch the first pitch, the scheduled pitching matchup, current team performance, player stats and of course our predictions, tips & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and our team of experts.

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Game details and how to watch Tigers @ Guardians – Game 5

● Date: Saturday, October 12, 2024
● Time: 1:08 p.m. ET
● Site: Progressive field
● City: Cleveland, OH
● TV/Streaming: TBS, MAX

Don't miss a second of the action and stay up to date with the latest team stats and player news. Check out our daily routine MLB schedule pagealong with detailed matchup pages that are updated live in-game with every out.

Game 5 odds for Tigers @ Guardians

The latest odds from Friday evening:

● Money line: Detroit Tigers (-120), Cleveland Guardians (+100)
● Spread: Tiger -1.5 (+155), Guardian +1.5 (-190)
● In total: 6

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Likely starting players for Detroit @ Cleveland

Saturday's pitching matchup (October 12): Tarik Skubal vs. Matthew Boyd

○ Tiger: Skubal – (1-0, 0.00 ERA) has allowed 7 hits and 0 earned runs this postseason, striking out 14 over 13 innings.

○ Guardian: Boyd – (0-0, 0.00) has allowed 4 hits and 0 earned runs while striking out 5 over 4.2 innings this postseason.

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Top betting trends and insights you should know ahead of Tigers @ Guardians

• The Guardians are 4-2 in their last 6 meetings against American League teams.
• In their last 12 games, the Tigers have won the OVER three times.
• Since the regular season, the Tigers have won four of their last five series.
• Jose Ramirez is batting just .143 (2-14) in this series, but he has hit his 1^st Series home run in Game 4.
• Steven Kwan is batting .500 (8-16) in this series after going 3-5 in Game 4.

Playoff history for Detroit and Cleveland

· Tiger: Detroit defeated the Houston Astros in the Wild Card round and won two straight games in Texas. Before this season, the Tigers last qualified for the playoffs in 2014. They won the World Series in 1935, 1945, 1968 and 1984.

· Guardian: Cleveland has an all-time record of 62-60. They appeared in the World Series six times – 1920, 1948, 1954, 1995, 1997 and 2016 – and lost six times.

If you're looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on today's schedule, check out our MLB Top Trends Tool on NBC Sports!

Expert picks and predictions for Game 5 of the series between Cleveland and Detroit

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Our model calculates predictions for every moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points such as past performance, player matchups, stadium information and weather forecasts.

Once the model is finished running, we place its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to determine a relative confidence level for each bet.

Here are the best bets our model predicts for Saturday's Game 5 – Detroit @ Cleveland:

• Money line: NBC Sports is leaning toward a nod to the Tigers on the moneyline
• Spread: NBC Sports is staying away from a game on the run line
• Total number of runs: NBC Sports recommends a game with run totals under 6

Want even more best MLB bets and predictions from our team of experts and tools? Check this out Expert MLB Predictions NBC Sports page for moneyline, spread and overall picks for each of the games on today's calendar!

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