Red Sox vs. Orioles Pick
Can the Boston Red Sox salvage a split with the Baltimore Orioles when the two close out their weekend series today at 1:10PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, Boston is the clear favorite on the road, as they are getting odds of -200 to win. The Orioles are listed with a money line of +170 to prevail, while the over/under total has been set at 8.5 runs.
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The pitching matchup for today’s game has Chris Sale (6-2, 2.77 ERA) taking the mound for Boston to face Chris Tillman (1-2, 5.87) of the Orioles. Sale has some good numbers for the season, but has actually allowed multiple runs in each of his last seven starts, including at least three in four of his last five. He has 110 strikeouts in 78 innings pitched with just 16 walks and a WHIP of 0.91. Tillman is making his sixth start today. He has allowed at least 3 runs in each of his last four starts and has just 16 strikeouts with 11 walks in 23 innings pitched. His WHIP is 1.87.
Baltimore took the first two games in this series before Boston bounced back on Saturday with a 5-2 win. The Red Sox are now 30-25 overall and 13-15 on the road while Baltimore is29-25 overall and 19-9 at home.
Saturday’s game saw David Price return to form, pitching seven strong innings with just one run and three hits allowed. He also recorded seven strikeouts to get his first win of 2017. Baltimore had trouble in the bullpen, as the Orioles gave up 3 runs in four innings out of the pen. Hanley Ramirez led Boston at the plate with a pair of hits, including a home run, and three RBI.
Sale hasn’t been quite as dominant as one might think, so I am not a huge fan of the -200 odds. However, he is allowing 1 fewer baserunner per inning than Tillman. That is likely to spell trouble for Tillman, especially against this Boston lineup. The Sox are too strong from top-to-bottom to not take advantage of extra baserunners. I don’t like the odds, but I do think Boston will get the win behind Sale and some timely hitting.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: BOSTON RED SOX -200