Orioles vs. Athletics Pick
Can the Baltimore Orioles go on the road and pick up a win over the Oakland Athletics when the two meet up tonight at 10:05PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, this game is considered even, as both the Athletics and Orioles are getting a money line of -105 to win. The over/under total for the contest has been set at 9.5 runs.
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The pitching matchup tonight has Ubaldo Jimenez (5-7, 6.31 ERA) on the mound for Baltimore to face Paul Blackburn (3-1, 2.60) of the Athletics. Jimenez has actually been improving on the mound. He has allowed just four earned runs over his last three starts, a total of 18.2 innings. He has 100 strikeouts on the season with 51 walks and a 1.55 WHIP. Blackburn has alternated good starts with bad over his last four. He went scoreless in two and allowed a combined nine runs in the other two. His last was 6.2 scoreless innings against the Angels. On the season, he has 17 strikeouts with 11 walks and a 1.07 WHIP.
These two opened their series on Thursday night with the Orioles picking up a 7-2 win over the Athletics. Baltimore is now 57-58 overall and 22-35 on the road while the Athletics are 50-65 overall and 31-28 at home.
Wade Miley gave the Orioles seven strong innings on Thursday night to get his sixth win of the season. He had seven strikeouts while allowing just three hits. Chris Smith gave up five runs in six innings of work to take his second loss of 2017. Baltimore was led by Adam Jones who had two hits and three RBI. Trey Mancini added two home runs for the Orioles while Jef Lowrie led the Athletics with both RBI.
Jimenez appears to have turned a corner for Baltimore. I can’t say I really saw it coming, but I think he is a good play tonight against Blackburn, who is coming off a good start and hasn’t been able to produce those in back-to-back outings. Baltimore has the better hitting as of late as well. Take your chances on the road team with the hot arm.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: BALTIMORE ORIOLES -105