It is afternoon baseball on Memorial Day as the Cleveland Guardians face the Baltimore Orioles. It's time to continue our MLB odds series with a Guardians-Orioles prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.
The Guardians took two of three from the Cardinals over the weekend, with a two-run walk-off double by Jose Ramirez to win the game on Sunday. Each of the three games of the series was decided by just one run. The Guardians are 4-6 in their last ten games and are currently sitting at 23-29 on the season. The Guardians are 3.5 games out of first place heading into this series with the Orioles.
After winning the series against the Yankees, the Orioles dropped two of three to the Texas Rangers over the season. Grayson Rodriguez struggled in the first game of the series, which resulted in him being sent back to Triple-A. The Orioles are 6-4 in the last ten games and sit at 34-19 on the season. They are in second place in the AL East, four games back from the Tampa Bay Rays. The Orioles still sits as the second-best record in the league, a half-game better than the Texas Rangers.
Here are the Guardians-Orioles MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Guardians-Orioles Odds
Cleveland Guardians: +1.5 (-184)
Baltimore Orioles: -1.5 (+152)
Over: 8 (-115)
Under: 8 (-105)
How To Watch Guardians vs. Orioles
TV: BSGL/MASN
Stream: MLB.TV
Time: 1:05 PM ET/ 10:05 AM PT
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Guardians Could Cover The Spread
This series may be a battle of speed and the bullpens. The Guardians sit fourth in the majors with 46 stolen bases this year. Leading the way for the team has been Myles Straw, who has ten stolen basses in the year. While he has speed, his defense has waned from his Gold Glove standard. While Straw has hits in four straight games, he has struggled at the plate this month. He is hitting just .182 this month with a .263 on-base percentage. He also has lost some of that speed from early in the season, stealing just two bases this month.
One of the hottest bats on the team over the last week has belonged to Josh Naylor. Naylor is hitting just .257 in the last month but has driven in 17 runs while hitting four home runs. The last week has seen him hitting .333, but while getting on base plenty, he has not scored a run. The Guardians do not need a ton of run support due to their bullpen this year. The Guardians are first in the majors with 20 saves on the season. Seventeen of those belong to Emmanuel Chase, who in 25 innings of work has a 3.60 ERA. The bullpen as a whole sits with a 3.12 ERA this year, fourth in the majors.
Hoping to get the game to the bullpen with the lead today will be Logan Allen. Allen has started six games on the season and is 1-2 with a 3.31 ERA. His last start saw him give up four runs, three earned, on seven hits in six innings. This year he has given up at least one run in every start, with two outings of two runs, and two of three earned runs. He has been a serviceable pitcher this year, but not stellar.
Why The Orioles Could Cover The Spread
The Orioles are fifth in the league in stolen bases with 45 this season, one behind the Guardians. Leading the way for them is the combination of Jorge Mateo and Cedric Mullins. Mateo has 15 stolen bases so far this year, including five this month. The problem is it is very hard to steal bases when you are not on base. Mateo has an OBP this month of just .163 with a batting average of .120. He has been struggling to make contact all month long. This month he has just nine hits, only one for extra bases, four walks, and 24 strikeouts.
Cedric Mullins is second on the team in stolen bases with 13 this year, but he has only stolen two this month. He is hitting just .277 on the month with a .340 on-base percentage. Mullins also has 18 RBIS and five home runs this month. He has struggled over the last week though, he has just one hit in his last five games. While Mullins has struggled over the last week, Austin Hays has not. In his last six games, he is hitting.391 with two doubles, a triple, a home run, and six RBIs.
Tyler Wells will be heading to the mound today for the Orioles. He is 3-1 so far on the season with a 3.47 ERA. What has been impressive with Wells has been his .84 WHIP on the season. In the last two games, he has struggled to give up home runs though. Last time out he gave up three, and two the time before that. As long as he keeps the ball in the yard, he should be able to hand over the ball to the bullpen to take it home. The Oriole's bullpen is also one of the best. Their 3.07 ERA on the year is second in all of the majors. That is led by Yennier Cano and Felix Bautista. Cano has a .98 ERAS with four saves, while Bautista has 13 saves and a 1.38 ERA.
Final Guardians-Orioles Prediction & Pick
This game features two amazing bullpens going head to head. Whatever team has the lead going into the late innings should win this game. The Orioles are the better squad earlier in games though. They average .1 or more runs more per innings in the first five innings than the Guardians this year. The Orioles have had the lead after the first five innings 49.6% of the time this year, while the Guardians are only at 35.8% of the time. With that, the Orioles take the early lead and hold on to get the win.
Final Guardians-Orioles Prediction & Pick: Orioles -1.5 (+1520
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