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It is the start of a three-game interleague series between the Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago Cubs. It is time to continue our MLB odds series with an Orioles-Cubs prediction, pick, and how to watch.
The Orioles enter the day coming off taking two of three from the Toronto Blue Jays. It was Adley Rutschman and Austin Hays' back-to-back home runs that helped give the Orioles the win in the game. They have won six of their last seven games now. This places them in second in their division at 43-25 on the year. It is also the second-best record in the league, five games back to their division rival Rays, but a half-game up on the Atlanta Braves.
Meanwhile, the Cubs just completed a sweep of the NL Central-leading Pittsburgh Pirates. They have now won five of their last six games and sit at 31-37 overall. That places them in fourth place in the division, but they are only 3.5 games back of the Pirates in a tight race in the division.
Here are the Orioles-Cubs MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Orioles-Cubs Odds
Baltimore Orioles: -1.5 (+146)
Chicago Cubs: +1.5 (-178)
Over: 7.5 (-122)
Under: 7.5 (+100)
How To Watch Orioles vs. Cubs
TV: MASN2/MARQ
Stream: MLB.TV
Time: 2:20 PM ET/ 11:20 AM PT
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Orioles Could Cover The Spread
The Orioles offense has come alive as they have won six of their last seven games. In the last seven games they have scored 42 runs, could for six per game. They are seventh in the league in runs scored now, while also sitting seventh in slugging percentage. The Orioles are 13th in batting average and 15th in on-base percentage. Austin Hays is having a great season leading this offense. He is hitting .306 so far this year, which is good for ninth in the majors. Hays is having a solid month so far as well. He is hitting .286 on the month with a stolen base, two home runs, five doubles, and six RBIs.
Gunnar Henderson drove in another run last night and is continuing his hot month. He has now driven in 12 runs this month with the help of five home runs. Henderson has scored seven runs this month while hitting .405 with an on-base percentage of .421. Anthony Santander drove in a run yesterday as well. After starting the month slow, Santander has picked up as of the last week. In the last week, he has driven in four runs while hitting .348.
The Orioles will be sending Cole Irvin to the mound today. This year he is 1-2 with a 7.85 ERA. Much of the ERA is inflated due to a poor first month of the season. In three starts in April, he gave up 15 runs in just 12.2 innings of work. After making a short relief appearance in May, he made his first start since April 13th last Saturday. In that game, he went 5.1 innings and gave up just one run to get his first win of the year.
Why The Cubs Could Cover The Spread
Like the Orioles, the Cub's offense has hit its stride as of late. In the series with the Pirates, they scored 28 runs in three games. The Cubs offense has been very middle of the pack overall overall this year. While they are seventh in on-base percentage, they are 18th in runs, 17th in batting average, and 20th in slugging. The recent run production has primarily come off the bats of two guys. In the last week Christopher Morel has driven in eight runs. Morel has had a good month overall. He has two home runs, eight RBIs and is batting .296 on the month. He has also walked five times to bring his on-base percentage to .394 for the month as well.
Ian Happ has also drove in eight runs in the last week. He drove in multiple runs in each of the games against the Pirates and now has nine RBIs on the month. His batting average is not great for the month, hitting just .222, but he is getting on base a lot. He has walked nine times this month to give him an on-base percentage of .375 for the month. Happ has also shown a little power this month. He has a home run, a double, and a triple so far this month.
Kyle Hendricks will be pitching for the Cubs today. Hendricks is 1-2 on the year with a 3.09 ERA. His last time out he was amazing. He went eight innings, giving up just one hit and striking out three. Only two players even saw bases while he was on the mound. Hendricks gave up just one walk while not giving up a run at the start. Hendricks has been good every other start so far this year. In his two bad starts, he gave up four or more runs. In his two solid ones, he gave up a run or less.
Final Orioles-Cubs Prediction & Pick
At a basic look, the Blue Jays have the better pitcher going to the mound today, but Irvin was solid in his last start. He struggled months ago and that is affecting his overall season statistics. Irvin was sent down to the minors after his rough start and dominated. He went 6-1 in the minors with a 3.21 ERA. He was great and seems to have found himself. The Oriole's offense has also been better. They are the better team in this one, and Hendricks has been inconsistent this year. The Orioles will get some runs off him and then their dominant bullpen will shut down a Cubs comeback. Expect runs early in this one from both sides, but an Orioles win.
Final Orioles-Cubs Prediction & Pick: Orioles -1.5 (+146)
