MLB Betting Preview: Indians Invade Camden to Take On Orioles
The Indians and Orioles begin their weekend series with as many wins combined as the Tampa Bay Rays. Weather permitting, someone has to get a win on Friday.
It's not the most attractive weekend series, but since when did that matter to bettors?
Baltimore will host Cleveland at Oriole Park for three games beginning Friday evening. The Orioles send Jeremy Guthrie (1-6, 4.67) to the mound at Camden Yards with the Tribe's rotation landing on Justin Masterson (2-4, 5.24).
Oddsmakers opened the O's as 135-140 chalk with the early scoreboard total listed at 8½.
The Orioles opened their eight-game homestand this week by taking two of three from the Mariners. Luke Scott went deep with the sacks juiced in the eighth inning of Thursday's 6-5 comeback win as 120 underdogs. Baltimore is now 11-24 on the season, 9-8 in its last 17. The O's are down 8.4 units at the window and 21-12-2 to the 'under.'
Cleveland got its eight-game trip underway by taking two of three at Kansas City the past few days. The Tribe's hopes to sweep the Royals feel short with a 6-4 loss to Zach Greinke and KC on Thursday. The Indians were 180 dogs and enter Baltimore with a 13-19 record (minus 3.3 units), the 'under' holding a 17-13-2 advantage.
Masterson made two starts against the O's last year wearing two different jerseys. Part of the deal that sent catcher Victor Martinez from Cleveland to Boston, the right-hander got plenty of support from his old Red Sox mates in a 12-1 win at Fenway. He got very little support from his new Indians lineup in late August, falling 5-2 to the O's here at Camden.
The former second-round pick out of San Diego State has not fared well in Baltimore regardless of who he was pitching for. In 9 2/3 career innings, that include a couple of relief outings, Masterson has been charged with 10 runs, nine of them earned. Pitching against the Orioles lineup outside of Baltimore, Masterson has allowed just one earned run in 9 1/3 frames.
Guthrie finally got rid of the goose egg in his win column with a victory in his most recent start. The right-hander worked 6 2/3 innings last Saturday in Minnesota, allowing three runs in a 7-3 Baltimore win.
He hasn't faced the Indians since Aug. 2008 when he tossed a dandy in Cleveland (7 IP, 1 ER) in a 6-1 win. This will be the first time he's started against the Tribe at Oriole Park.
This will also be just his third home start of the season. His two previous starts at home resulted in Orioles losses to the Yankees and Rays, two of the best-hitting lineups in the majors. Guthrie worked a combined 11 2/3 innings in those outings, giving up nine earnies.
The only way you could get less offense in an AL series would be if the Mariners were somehow involved. Baltimore does have a lot more power than either the Indians or M's – Cleveland and Seattle had combined for as many homers as the Orioles (31) entering Thursday's action. But that's about it.
The Indians have scored three runs or less in exactly half of their games this year, 16. The O's have done the same in 22 of their 35 ventures onto a major league field.
It's going to at least be a muggy evening in Charm City, if not a wet one. There's a good shot of afternoon showers and t-storms in the Baltimore area, and some of that may linger into the early evening. Look for mid-to-upper 70s for the temp at first pitch with 12-20 mph winds from the west (3B to 1B).
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they started games in the 2010 season. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com, ESPN.com and, of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!
The Indians and Orioles begin their weekend series with as many wins combined as the Tampa Bay Rays. Weather permitting, someone has to get a win on Friday.
It's not the most attractive weekend series, but since when did that matter to bettors?
Baltimore will host Cleveland at Oriole Park for three games beginning Friday evening. The Orioles send Jeremy Guthrie (1-6, 4.67) to the mound at Camden Yards with the Tribe's rotation landing on Justin Masterson (2-4, 5.24).
Oddsmakers opened the O's as 135-140 chalk with the early scoreboard total listed at 8½.
The Orioles opened their eight-game homestand this week by taking two of three from the Mariners. Luke Scott went deep with the sacks juiced in the eighth inning of Thursday's 6-5 comeback win as 120 underdogs. Baltimore is now 11-24 on the season, 9-8 in its last 17. The O's are down 8.4 units at the window and 21-12-2 to the 'under.'
Cleveland got its eight-game trip underway by taking two of three at Kansas City the past few days. The Tribe's hopes to sweep the Royals feel short with a 6-4 loss to Zach Greinke and KC on Thursday. The Indians were 180 dogs and enter Baltimore with a 13-19 record (minus 3.3 units), the 'under' holding a 17-13-2 advantage.
Masterson made two starts against the O's last year wearing two different jerseys. Part of the deal that sent catcher Victor Martinez from Cleveland to Boston, the right-hander got plenty of support from his old Red Sox mates in a 12-1 win at Fenway. He got very little support from his new Indians lineup in late August, falling 5-2 to the O's here at Camden.
The former second-round pick out of San Diego State has not fared well in Baltimore regardless of who he was pitching for. In 9 2/3 career innings, that include a couple of relief outings, Masterson has been charged with 10 runs, nine of them earned. Pitching against the Orioles lineup outside of Baltimore, Masterson has allowed just one earned run in 9 1/3 frames.
Guthrie finally got rid of the goose egg in his win column with a victory in his most recent start. The right-hander worked 6 2/3 innings last Saturday in Minnesota, allowing three runs in a 7-3 Baltimore win.
He hasn't faced the Indians since Aug. 2008 when he tossed a dandy in Cleveland (7 IP, 1 ER) in a 6-1 win. This will be the first time he's started against the Tribe at Oriole Park.
This will also be just his third home start of the season. His two previous starts at home resulted in Orioles losses to the Yankees and Rays, two of the best-hitting lineups in the majors. Guthrie worked a combined 11 2/3 innings in those outings, giving up nine earnies.
The only way you could get less offense in an AL series would be if the Mariners were somehow involved. Baltimore does have a lot more power than either the Indians or M's – Cleveland and Seattle had combined for as many homers as the Orioles (31) entering Thursday's action. But that's about it.
The Indians have scored three runs or less in exactly half of their games this year, 16. The O's have done the same in 22 of their 35 ventures onto a major league field.
It's going to at least be a muggy evening in Charm City, if not a wet one. There's a good shot of afternoon showers and t-storms in the Baltimore area, and some of that may linger into the early evening. Look for mid-to-upper 70s for the temp at first pitch with 12-20 mph winds from the west (3B to 1B).
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they started games in the 2010 season. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com, ESPN.com and, of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!
