The Detroit Tigers' hot streak continued into October as they took Game 1 of this series behind a stellar performance from Tarik Skubal.
Now the Astros' backs are against the wall, but we can capitalize on their sense of urgency in the player prop market.
Let's dive into our top Tigers vs Astros player props for Game 2 (2:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
Doug Ziefel's Tigers vs Astros Player Props — Game 2
Great Price on This Hunter Brown Prop
In Game 1, we saw the Tigers string together hits and rally early against Framber Valdez.
However, they were also very disciplined as his pitch count rose quickly.
We should see Detroit take a similar approach against Hunter Brown. Brown has been tremendous at generating soft contact this year — ranking in the 97th percentile in hard-hit rate — but his opportunity to do so shrinks when he's behind in the count.
Brown's command is a coin flip, as his walk rate is in the 48th percentile. The Tigers didn't draw a walk and only scored one earned run in 14 innings against Brown this season, but they did rack up five hits in each start he made.
This Tigers' lineup is much different than the one he faced in June, and we should expect more at-bats to swing in Detroit's favor — since this is the third time it'll see Brown.
In addition to all this, we're getting a great price for this over. Brown has allowed at least five hits in 52% of his starts, which gives us implied odds of -108.
After the bullpen came in early in Game 1, we should see Brown work as deep as possible, giving the Tigers a lengthy opportunity to get the over for us.
Tucker to Guide Astros' Offense?
The Astros are the favorites to bounce back in Game 2, and if they do, the bats will need to get going earlier.
One man that should be involved in the Astros' offensive output is Kyle Tucker.
Tucker has been tremendous this season against right-handed pitching, hitting .303 with a .348 ISO.
However, the Tigers are set to open this game with a lefty in Tyler Holton. Tucker has a slight drop-off against lefties, hitting .262 with a .204 ISO.
Holton has been tough on lefties, but Tucker will only have to see him once. Although Tucker does have a single in his only career at-bat against Holton, we can't disqualify that at-bat.
Ideally, I'd like to see the top of the Astros' order shuffled, with Alex Bregman hitting second while Tucker moves to the clean-up spot to possibly avoid Holton in his first at-bat.
Regardless, Tucker is the guy to get this offense going, and he's shown he can get the job done against both lefties and righties.
