The Orioles lost their 2014 big bopper, OF/DH Nelson Cruz, to the Seattle Mariners in free agency, but the restoration of health of some of the club’s either key pieces might be enough to pretty well mitigate that departure.
The Baltimore Orioles have hit the skids a little bit lately. They are still the most surprising team going but they lost their opener against a reeling Toronto team to extend their losing streak to 3 games and have won just 4 of their last 10.
The Baltimore Orioles are the biggest positive surprise in the Majors, adding even more heft to the American League East being the toughest division in baseball.
The Blue Jays are off to a solid start this year and just whipped through the Royals over the weekend. Now they are in Baltimore looking to avenge a poor home series against the surprising Orioles.
The Baltimore Orioles will do their best to play spoiler on Wednesday evening as the Boston Red Sox scramble to hold off the Tampa Bay Rays over the American League Wildcard lead.
MLB Betting – Orioles vs Red Sox Preview & Pick
Date: Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Venue: Fenway Park, Boston, MA
Broadcast: MASN, NESN
Baltimore Orioles at Boston Red Sox Betting Lines from Sportsbook.com
Money Line: OFF
Over/Under: OFF
Baltimore Orioles (63-90 through September 19)
Tommy Hunter (4-4, 4.81)
The Baltimore Orioles will do their best to play spoiler on Wednesday evening as the Boston Red Sox scramble to hold off the Tampa Bay Rays over the American League Wildcard lead. Through Monday, they’d won five of seven, all against the Rays, Angels and Red Sox, so they’ve been pesky for the contenders.
Tommy Hunter starts Wednesday. His skills are quite ordinary and it’s shown in his numbers since he arrived from the Texas Rangers earlier this season. Hunter has a 5.31 ERA and .300 opponents’ batting average since he became an Oriole. He’s allowed two or more homers in three of his last five starts, though he did throw seven shutout innings against the Angels his last time out.
Boston Red Sox (88-66 through September 19)
Josh Beckett (12-5, 2.50)
The Red Sox have to take advantage with the easy matchup against Baltimore this week since Tampa gets the Yankees. Through Monday, they’d lost seven of 10 and split the doubleheader to open the Baltimore series. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
Josh Beckett returned last week after missing a start with an ankle injury and was fairly sharp against Tampa, allowing two earned runs and striking out seven over six innings. He’s slowed ever so slightly since the All-Star break but he’s still been very effective, going 5-2 with a 2.88 ERA in the second half. Boston needs him now more than ever with so many of its other pitchers injured and/or struggling.
The pick:
The Red Sox have had plenty of scares lately but nothing about Wednesday’s matchup looks scary. Beckett is comfy at home this season, going 6-1 with a 2.30 ERA over 13 starts. Also, Hunter has an awful track record against Boston. The Red Sox have smoked him for 16 runs and seven homers in just 17.1 innings over his four starts against them. Watch out for David Ortiz, who has tagged him for two homers in 10 career at-bats.
The Red Sox have a tough road ahead but they should hit a smooth patch on Wednesday.
Orioles vs Red Sox prediction: Red Sox 7, Orioles 2
Baseball is a game of stats and streaks. The Red Sox started this season 2-10 and had all kinds of problems with pitching, injuries and an ice cold offense.
Here we go with today’s sports water cooler talk. Here, you won’t just find the straight news; you’ll find the stuff everyone is talking about – the ice breakers, the Twitter Sports Picks and topics…well, basically all the stuff you discuss at the water cooler.
Here we go with today’s sports water cooler talk. Here, you won’t just find the straight news; you’ll find the stuff everyone is talking about – the ice breakers, the Twitter Sports Picks and topics…well, basically all the stuff you discuss at the water cooler.
Before baseball gambling fans turn their attention to other sports betting events this weekend, we have the Tuesday MLB game of the day pick for you. It’s time for our weekly baseball picks for online MLB betting action.
Season Record:
Baltimore: 25-59 SU
Texas: 50-34 SU
No matter what happens elsewhere in the major leagues, sportsbooks and bettors always pay close attention to the action in the American League East. Besides having the two most popular bets in baseball, the AL East also boasts the defending AL champs and the league’s top money winner.
The National Football League heads north of the border on Thursday night to kick off the second week of its preseason schedule. Here’s your Daily Sports Roundup . . .
Event of the day . . .
The Buffalo Bills are starting to tap into the lucrative Toronto market this season, and it all begins with their exhibition game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Rogers Centre on Thursday night (with the kickoff set for 7:30pm ET). And Bills supporters hope that their team will be lucrative at the betting window once again this season.
Buffalo went 7-9 straight-up in 2007, but they were 10-6 against-the-spread. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, was 10-6 SU last year, and only 8-8 ATS. For Thursday night the Vegas oddsmakers have pegged this neutral-site game as a pick’em, despite Buffalo’s proximity to Toronto. The total for the game has been set at 33 points.
Steelers starting QB Ben Roethlisberger should see just limited time on Thursday, with newly-signed backup Byron Leftwich getting more snaps. Don’t expect to see much of RB Willie Parker either. Bills starting QB Trent Edwards will be looking to bounce back from a poor outing in Buffalo’s preseason opener against Washington.
With outfielder Adam Dunn now on the roster the Diamondbacks will be looking to pull away from the rival Dodgers in the NL West race. Here’s your Daily Sports Roundup . . .
Event of the day . . .
Dunn and the Diamondbacks will continue their series in Colorado against the Rockies on Wednesday night. Arizona countered the Dodgers’ acquisition of Manny Ramirez by dealing for the slugging Reds outfielder on Monday afternoon, in exchange for minor league pitcher Dallas Buck and a pair of players to be named later. Dunn has had trouble with his batting average this year, but he’s still able to blast home runs.
And Doug Davis (4-7, 4.75 ERA) will be looking to Dunn to provide him some offense on Wednesday night, as he takes the mound for Arizona. The lefthander has been terrible in each of his last two outings, giving up a combined 12 earned runs on 15 hits in just six innings of work. The Diamondbacks are 3-7 in Davis’ last 10 trips to the mound.
Jeff Francis (3-8, 5.81 ERA) hasn’t been any better, as the Rockies are 3-7 in his last 10 starts as well. The lefthander was knocked around in his return from the disabled list on August 7, giving up five earned runs on eight hits over 5 1-3 innings versus the light-hitting Nationals. Unless one or both of those starting pitchers show some progress on Wednesday night Dunn and the rest of the hitters could have a field day.
Non-event of the day . . .
Dunn’s old team remains mired in last place in the NL Central standings, and they’ll take on their closest cellar competitor on Wednesday. Cincinnati will send Josh Fogg (2-4, 7.98 ERA) to the mound in that contest, and he’ll be countered by Pittsburgh’s Paul Maholm (7-7, 3.76 ERA). Fogg might not last much longer in the Reds’ rotation, as the team is 0-3 in his last three outings (in which he allowed a healthy 16 runs).
Cole Hamels will be gunning for his 10th win of the year on Tuesday night when the Phillies continue their road series in Los Angeles. Here’s your Daily Sports Roundup …
Event of the day . . .
Philadelphia is still trying to hold off both the Mets and the Marlins in the tight NL East standings, while Los Angeles is looking to overtake the Diamondbacks in the race for top spot in the NL West. Those two clubs will play the second game of their west-coast series on Tuesday night, beginning at 10:10pm ET.
