Tarik Skubal is the leading AL Cy Young candidate for good reason. He sports the second-best Win Probability Added (3.77 WPA) with a 30.3% K% and 4.8% BB%. He hasn't regressed much in the second half of the season, either. He has a hard-hit rate of 31% and a K rate of 31% in his last five starts. Coming off a mediocre start (for his standards), I expect him to bring it on Thursday, putting down the Rockies like a professional bowler knocks down pins.

The Rockies hold a wRC+ of 57 against left-handers in the second half of the season. Colorado ranks 29th in wRC+ (82) with the second-highest strikeout percentage (26.6%) in MLB this year. It also strikes out at an even higher rate (29.9%) against left-handers with the worst BB/K ratio vs. lefties in the league. With a solid Tigers bullpen (lowest ERA and third-most Ks in MLB in the last 30 days) backing Skubal up, I feel confident the home team will mow down the visitors' bats tomorrow. The Rockies average just 3.4 runs per game on the road and have scored three or fewer runs in seven of their last run games overall.

The Tigers have been heating up offensively, too. They scored nine runs in their series finale versus Oakland and 18 runs in the first two games versus Colorado. They rank 7th in wRC+ (108), 7th in wOBA (.318) and 6th in WAR (4.8) in the last 30 days. On a quest to make the AL postseason field, Detroit will push Ryan Feltner (4.52 xFIP on the road) around early and add on against the Rockies' bullpen, which has a 5.40 ERA (30th) and 1.55 WHIP (30th) this season.