MoTown's Melton is Money

My Best Bet began with three straight wins before the break and now I am back for the second half.

The All-Star break can cool off some teams, but I don't think that's happening with the Detroit Tigers or my streak.

Detroit entered the break playing some of its best baseball of the season, winning six of its last eight games and nine of its last 12. More importantly, the Tigers now get an ideal matchup against a Los Angeles Angels team that limped into the break and a starting pitcher who has been unable to stop the bleeding.

Reid Detmers has always possessed intriguing upside, but this season has been a different story.

Detmers has allowed five runs in each of his last two starts and has surrendered at least five runs in three of his last four outings. Over his last nine innings, he has been tagged for 14 hits, and even if he manages to limit the damage early, he rarely works deep enough into games to spare the Angels' struggling bullpen.

That's a recipe for a long night against a Detroit lineup that has been swinging the bats with confidence.

The Tigers will counter with Troy Melton, who is quickly emerging as the perfect complement to ace Tarik Skubal. Melton enters the game with a sparkling 1.82 ERA and a 5-1 record, but those numbers only tell part of the story.

He hasn't allowed a run over his last 12 innings and has surrendered just two earned runs across his last four starts combined. Even more impressive, only one team has managed to score more than one run against him in any start this season. That's the kind of consistency bettors should be looking to back.

Meanwhile, the Angels headed into the All-Star break in the opposite direction, losing 10 of their last 12 games. Asking them to reverse that trend against one of baseball's hottest teams and one of the league's most effective young starters is a difficult proposition.

Sometimes the best bet is the simplest one.

One team is rolling. The other is searching for answers.

I'll gladly back the hotter club.

The play: Detroit Tigers -115.

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