Associated Press

Detroit Tigers (50-53, fourth in the AL Central) vs. Cleveland Guardians (61-40, first in the AL Central)

Cleveland; Thursday, 1:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Tigers: Reese Olson (0-0); Guardians: Gavin Williams (0-2, 4.50 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 14 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Guardians -179, Tigers +150; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Cleveland Guardians host the Detroit Tigers with a 2-1 series lead.

Cleveland has a 61-40 record overall and a 33-14 record at home. The Guardians have gone 45-6 in games when they scored five or more runs.

Detroit has a 50-53 record overall and a 26-29 record in road games. The Tigers have gone 23-4 in games when they hit two or more home runs.

The teams match up Thursday for the 11th time this season. The season series is tied 5-5.

TOP PERFORMERS: Josh Naylor has 16 doubles, 22 home runs and 72 RBI while hitting .237 for the Guardians. Jose Ramirez is 10-for-40 with two doubles and a home run over the last 10 games.

Riley Greene has 21 doubles, five triples and 17 home runs for the Tigers. Matt Vierling is 13-for-40 with six doubles and two home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Guardians: 4-6, .200 batting average, 3.10 ERA, outscored by 16 runs

Tigers: 6-4, .253 batting average, 3.68 ERA, outscored opponents by 19 runs

INJURIES: Guardians: Sam Hentges: 15-Day IL (undisclosed), Matthew Boyd: 15-Day IL (elbow), Shane Bieber: 60-Day IL (elbow), Trevor Stephan: 60-Day IL (elbow), James Karinchak: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

Tigers: Kerry Carpenter: 60-Day IL (spine), Reese Olson: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Parker Meadows: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Casey Mize: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Sawyer Gipson-Long: 60-Day IL (groin)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Detroit Tigers might have the best trade chip available across Major League Baseball if they decide they are willing to ship out their superstar pitcher Tarik Skubal in the midst of his AL Cy Young-contending season.

With multiple teams around the league desperate to land someone of their ace’s caliber, there’s a chance someone sends them an offer they can’t refuse.

Jeff Passan of ESPN doesn’t think that is very likely at this point, though, writing that “any hope of acquiring him would require the sort of overpay almost no one is willing to consider.”

As the Tigers creep closer to selling off some of their pieces to get more future assets back in return, they could turn their attention to shopping another one of their star pitchers who is having a resurgent year.

Jack Flaherty was a steal of a signing for Detroit this offseason when they handed him a $14 million deal. His 3.13 ERA across 17 starts is the lowest its been since 2019 when he finished fourth in National League Cy Young voting with an ERA of 2.75.

The right-hander has also returned to being a swing-and-miss pitcher with his highest K/9 number (11.4) of his career.

That has turned Flaherty into a prime trade candidate and could net the Tigers what they are searching for as they continue to build towards the future.

Passan revealed what Detroit would be looking for in a trade package centered around the starter.

“The offer must be stronger than what the Tigers could get with a draft pick in the early 30s, which they’d get if Flaherty signs a large free agent deal as expected,” he writes.

Whether they get back ready-made prospects or others who project to become stars down the line, whatever the offer is has to meet these requirements or it makes no sense for them to make this deal. Based on how the market is shaping up, that shouldn’t be an issue, especially if they take Skubal off the table.

It will be interesting to see what the Tigers do.

If they decide to trade away their ace, that will almost certainly prolong their rebuilding stage by a few years, but if they hold onto him and start “loading up this winter” like Passan suggests they might, then Detroit could be contenders soon.

Regardless of what happens on that front, it’s likely they will find a suitor for Flaherty and sell high on the right-hander who has performed well since joining the organization.

Detroit’s own Kimberly E. Mallory shares her deeply personal life story in the new movie ‘Silent Scream.’ The movie is based on her book, ‘There Is No Sound In My Scream: Truth, Drugs and Faith.’ You can catch the movie on Sunday, August 18th, at the Riveria Cinema on Grand River Avenue in Farmington Hills. For more, visit kimberlymallory.com.