I will be writing a weekly article that will be updated every Tuesday at http://www.scoresdaily.com for all of those interested.
Cleveland (Baez) @ Baltimore (Erickson)
Boy where did these Orioles come from to listen to all of the so called experts at the beginning of the season this team couldn't win 20 games and here they are 1 game over .500, looks like they took it personal!
The Indians send Danys Baez to the mound who I really like and think he will be a solid pitcher once he has some more experience under his belt. He has a 1-3 record on the road with an ERA of 5.29 and a WHIP of 1.529 with 14 k's and 9 walks, this is his first start against the Orioles.
Baltimore counters with Scott Erickson who has been a very bright spot in their rotation he has a 3-2 record on the year with an ERA of 3.45 with a WHIP of 1.298 in 47 innings of work. He has a 2-2 record against the Indians with an ERA of 5.85 but has pitched very well at home against them with the Orioles going 3-0 in his trips to the mound for them against the Indians.
The Orioles are batting .296 as a team in their last 10 games while the Indians are hitting .231 over the same span. Baltimore is 3-1 at home with a money line of -100 to -125 while the Indians are 3-7 in the same situation on the road.
The Indians bullpen has been very poor in their last 3 games with an ERA of 9.67 and a very inflated WHIP of 2.37. Defensively they have committed 25 errors allowing the opposition to score an average of 4.8 runs a game while letting them bat .277 with an on base percentage of .368.
The Orioles bullpen has been a very solid part of their team especially at home where they have an ERA of 2.02 and WHIP of 1.163 in 49 innings with 37 strikeouts and only 9 walks. Defensively Baltimore has really been strong while only committing 16 errors allowing the opposition to score an average of 3.7 runs with a team batting average of .258 and an on base percentage of .328.
The Indians are not as strong offensively this year due to some losses to free agency, while the Orioles are a young team playing with allot of confidence and have the better pitcher, bullpen and defense so I will take my chances with the home team here.
Playing the Baltimore Orioles -122
[ May 08, 2002, 09:44 AM: Message edited by: RobertBIrish ]