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The Baltimore Orioles have won six straight games as they host the Boston Red Sox. It's time to continue our MLB odds series with a Red Sox-Orioles prediction, pick, and how to watch.
The Orioles are the hottest team in baseball and winners of six straight games. While not scoring a ton, the pitching has been great, holding opponents to three total runs in their last five games. Boston is 12-11 and yet finds itself in the basement of the AL East. They come in off winning the series against the Brewers and have won three straight series.
Here are the Red Sox-Orioles MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Red Sox-Orioles Odds
Boston Red Sox: -1.5 (+146)
Baltimore Orioles: +1.5 (-178)
Over: 8 (-110)
Under: 8 (-110)
How To Watch Red Sox vs. Orioles
TV: NESN/MASN
Stream: MLB.TV
Time: 6:35 PM ET/ 3:35 PM PT
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Red Sox Could Cover The Spread
Article Continues Below
After early struggles, being swept by the Pirates and Rays, the Red Sox have turned it on in recent series, winning two of three in each of the last two, and three of four against the Angels before that. The Red Sox sit 11th in baseball with a .252 batting average, and their .330 on-base percentage is also 11th in MLB. This team is scoring as well. With 132 runs on the year, which is good for third in baseball, and thirty home runs on the season, this is a difficult lineup for any team to face.
Rafael Devers is leading the charge with eight home runs on the season and 21 RBIs. He is striking out a ton, with 20 strikeouts on the season, but he is also the team leader in OPS among qualified players. Masataka Yoshida is coming off one of the best performances of his career, and now has three home runs and 15 RBIs on the year. Alex Verdugo is also having a great year. He has 11 RBIs, three home runs, a triple, and four doubles. Verdugo is hitting .322 with an OBP of .396. He also has scored 18 times in the year.
The issue for the Red Sox has been pitching. The bullpen has been solid, with a team bullpen ERA of 3.35, good for 10th in MLB. Still, the Red Sox rank 26th in team ERS with a 5.10, primarily because of poor starting pitching. Chris Sale has been a major part of that issue. His last outing was one of the best of his year, giving up just one run in six innings while striking out 11. Still, in the year before that start, he had given up 155 runs in just 12 innings of work. His first start of the year against the Orioles was a three-inning, seven earned runs, and three home runs surrendered outing.
Why The Orioles Could Cover The Spread
The Orioles have been on fire. This has been a combination of solid pitching and timely offense. The “homer hose” is not getting a ton of use, as the Orioles are 16th in baseball with 25 home runs, but they have scored 108 runs which are tied for 10th in the bigs. What has been a huge help for the offense has been the fact that they do not leave runners in scoring positions. This year they are seventh, leaving 3.24 runners in scoring position per game. In their recent games, it is even better. In the last three games, they have left 1.67 runners in scoring position per game.
The young stud Adley Rutschman has been amazing this year. He is hitting just .291 but has an on-base percentage of .423 as he has walked a team-high 18 times so far this year. He also is coming in with four home runs, and 15 RBIs on the year. The major force in driving in runs has been Ryan Mountcastle, who has hit six home runs and driven in 20 on the season. He has struggled some with strikeouts though, as he has 23 of them and is only hitting .213. Then there is Cedric Mullins, who has been a menace on the basepath. He has stolen nine bases already this year. This is more than the Twins, Rockies, Angels, and Dodgers.
Dean Kremer gets his fifth start of the year today. He is currently 1-0 with a 6.16 ERA. Like Sale, he started poorly on the year. His first start of the year was against the Red Sox, and he gave up five runs and two home runs in just three innings. He continued to struggle with runs and home runs until his last start. In his most recent outing, he struck out six and gave up no runs in 6.2 innings.
Final Red Sox-Orioles Prediction & Pick
Amazingly, a team above .500 is in dead last in their division, but that is where the Red Sox sit. Both starting pitchers tonight are coming off good starts after an awful beginning to their campaigns. Still, the Orioles are the better team right now. They are getting runners on base across the plate, and their pitching has been shut down. The run line is hard to predict here. This could easily be a 3-1 type of game, but it could also be 9-7. Riding the hot team seems like the best play here.
Final Red Sox-Orioles Prediction & Pick: Orioles +1.5 (-178)
