MLB Opening Day 2025 features a pitcher's dream in the Detroit Tigers vs. Los Angeles Dodgers matchup on Thursday, with the starters combining for three Cy Young awards. Reigning AL winner Tarik Skubal is coming off achieving the Triple Crown with Detroit last year, while two-time winner Blake Snell will make his Dodgers debut. Los Angeles begins 2025 MLB Opening Day with a 2-0 record after sweeping the Tokyo Series versus the Chicago Cubs last week, and the Dodgers went 98-64 last season en route to winning the World Series. Detroit is coming off an 86-76 record and its first postseason appearance in a decade. 

First pitch at 7:10 p.m. ET from Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles. The Dodgers are -166 favorites on the money line (risk $166 to win $100) in the latest Tigers vs. Dodgers odds, per SportsLine consensus. The total number of runs Vegas thinks will be scored, or the over-under, is 6.5 in the latest MLB odds. Over 0.5 runs in the first inning is priced at +130 (risk $100 to win $130). 

Before making any Dodgers vs. Tigers picks or MLB predictions, you need to see what the SportsLine Projection Model has to say.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every MLB game 10,000 times. It enters the 2025 MLB season on a 32-17 roll on top-rated run-line picks (+699) that dates back to 2023. Anybody following could have seen strong returns. 

The model knows Detroit has its ace on the mound for Opening Day as Tarik Skubal led the AL in ERA, wins and strikeouts last season. He also has a favorable history over current Dodgers batters, as they've combined for just a .194 career average versus Skubal. Once he turns the ball over to the bullpen, there's very little drop-off as Detroit's bullpen ERA of 3.55 last year was the second-best in the American League.

The model also knows Los Angeles landed the prized free agent pitcher this offseason with Blake Snell. A Cy Young winner in both 2018 and 2023, Snell's 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings over his career is the best in MLB history. That should present a problem for a Tigers team that racked up the seventh-most strikeouts in baseball last season.

The model has simulated Tigers vs. Dodgers 10,000 times and the results are in. We can tell you the model is leaning Over on the run total, and it also says one side of the money line has ALL the value!

Who wins Tigers vs. Dodgers, and which side of the money line has ALL the value? ... Join SportsLine right now to find out which side of the money line you should be all over, all from the model on a 32-17 roll on top-rated MLB picks!