Luke Hochevar and Brian Matusz are both better than their year to date stats and both are in good current form. With Kansas City not hitting lefties as well as righties and Baltimore just the opposite, go ‘under’ on Sunday.
Two promising youngsters that are both starting to realize their potential after slow starts this season square off on Sunday when Luke Hochevar and the Kansas City Royals (18-27 overall, 13-10 away) take on Brian Matusz and the Baltimore Orioles (29-18 overall, 14-12 home) in the final game of a three-game series from Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, MD at 1:35 ET.
The posted total at 5 Dimes is 9½ for this contest with the current odds on the ‘under’ set at -126.
The Orioles remain the most pleasant surprise in all of baseball as they currently lead what looks like a Topsy Turvy American League East by one game over the second place Tampa Bay Rays and by 3½ games over the third place New York Yankees. Baltimore is winning with some solid starting pitching from some unlikely sources and an outstanding bullpen that ranks second in the American League and third in the majors with a 2.45 ERA.
This is the rubber games of this series after the Orioles took the series opener 8-2 on Friday but the Royals came back to win 4-3 on Saturday, rallying from a 3-0 deficit by scoring single runs in every inning from the fifth through the eighth. They turn to Matusz to try and win the series today, and oddly enough, while the O’s have gotten great production from the likes of Jason Hammel and Wei-Yin Chen, Matusz was actually off to a slow start.
The reason we say that is odd is because Matusz was one pitcher that Baltimore was counting to do well this year, but he underachieved early and is just 4-4 with a 4.86 ERA and 1.54 WHIP while other pitchers on the staff have overachieved. That looks to be changing lately though as Matusz is finally starting to display the form the Orioles expected all along.
He had now allowed three runs or less in five of his last six starts including allowing two earned runs or less in four of them, and he is coming off of possibly his best start of the season vs. the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday where he allowed one run on only two hits with nine strikeouts vs. just one walk in 6.1 innings. He also posted a Quality Start vs. these Royals two starts ago where he allowed three runs in six innings.
Then again, it makes sense that the southpaw Matusz should perform well vs. Kansas City given that the Royals are batting a modest .244 vs. left-handers while averaging 3.20 runs per nine innings against them, as opposed to batting .262 and averaging 4.18 runs per nine vs. right-handers.
The Royals are in fourth place in the American League Central Division, 2½ games behind a third place Detroit Tigers’ team that mot people expected to run away with the division and 7½ games behind the surprising division leaders, the Cleveland Indians. Kansas City is attempting to win this series with Hochevar on the bump, who like Matusz, is also coming on strong after a slow start.
Hochevar actually started coming into his own last year when he went 6-3 with a fine 3.52 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in 12 starts after the All-Star break with the league hitting just .222 against him. It appeared that the now 28-year-old former overall number one draft pick was finally reaching his peak, but he has disappointed this season at just 3-5 with a 6.61 ERA and 1.51 WHIP.
However, he is showing signs of breaking out of it with two Quality Starts in his last three outings, first tossing seven scoreless innings while allowing only three hits vs. the Chicago White Sox and then pitching well in an unlucky 3-2 loss to the Yankees on Tuesday, surrendering only three runs on six hits with eight strikeouts in 6.2 innings.
Hochevar is facing a Baltimore lineup that is batting only 239 vs. right-handed pitching and averaging more than a full run less per nine innings (4.29) than vs. left-handers (5.31).
Thus, look for both pitcher to continue their current upswings and for these teams to stay ‘under’ in Camden Yards on Sunday.
The posted total at 5 Dimes is 9½ for this contest with the current odds on the ‘under’ set at -126.
The Orioles remain the most pleasant surprise in all of baseball as they currently lead what looks like a Topsy Turvy American League East by one game over the second place Tampa Bay Rays and by 3½ games over the third place New York Yankees. Baltimore is winning with some solid starting pitching from some unlikely sources and an outstanding bullpen that ranks second in the American League and third in the majors with a 2.45 ERA.
This is the rubber games of this series after the Orioles took the series opener 8-2 on Friday but the Royals came back to win 4-3 on Saturday, rallying from a 3-0 deficit by scoring single runs in every inning from the fifth through the eighth. They turn to Matusz to try and win the series today, and oddly enough, while the O’s have gotten great production from the likes of Jason Hammel and Wei-Yin Chen, Matusz was actually off to a slow start.The reason we say that is odd is because Matusz was one pitcher that Baltimore was counting to do well this year, but he underachieved early and is just 4-4 with a 4.86 ERA and 1.54 WHIP while other pitchers on the staff have overachieved. That looks to be changing lately though as Matusz is finally starting to display the form the Orioles expected all along.
He had now allowed three runs or less in five of his last six starts including allowing two earned runs or less in four of them, and he is coming off of possibly his best start of the season vs. the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday where he allowed one run on only two hits with nine strikeouts vs. just one walk in 6.1 innings. He also posted a Quality Start vs. these Royals two starts ago where he allowed three runs in six innings.
Then again, it makes sense that the southpaw Matusz should perform well vs. Kansas City given that the Royals are batting a modest .244 vs. left-handers while averaging 3.20 runs per nine innings against them, as opposed to batting .262 and averaging 4.18 runs per nine vs. right-handers.
The Royals are in fourth place in the American League Central Division, 2½ games behind a third place Detroit Tigers’ team that mot people expected to run away with the division and 7½ games behind the surprising division leaders, the Cleveland Indians. Kansas City is attempting to win this series with Hochevar on the bump, who like Matusz, is also coming on strong after a slow start.
Hochevar actually started coming into his own last year when he went 6-3 with a fine 3.52 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in 12 starts after the All-Star break with the league hitting just .222 against him. It appeared that the now 28-year-old former overall number one draft pick was finally reaching his peak, but he has disappointed this season at just 3-5 with a 6.61 ERA and 1.51 WHIP.
However, he is showing signs of breaking out of it with two Quality Starts in his last three outings, first tossing seven scoreless innings while allowing only three hits vs. the Chicago White Sox and then pitching well in an unlucky 3-2 loss to the Yankees on Tuesday, surrendering only three runs on six hits with eight strikeouts in 6.2 innings.
Hochevar is facing a Baltimore lineup that is batting only 239 vs. right-handed pitching and averaging more than a full run less per nine innings (4.29) than vs. left-handers (5.31).
Thus, look for both pitcher to continue their current upswings and for these teams to stay ‘under’ in Camden Yards on Sunday.
Royals, Orioles ‘under’ 9½ (-126) +++
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