Jason Hammel is having a fine year for the Orioles, but he has slumped lately and not pitched well vs. the Royals. Bruce Chen has overachieved going 3-0 his last three starts and Baltimore hits lefties well. Go ‘over’ Friday.
Look for a fairly high scoring game Friday night when Bruce Chen and the Kansas City Royals (17-26 overall, 12-9 away) take on Jason Hammel and the surprising Baltimore Orioles (28-17 overall, 13-11 home) as the teams begin a three-game series from Camden Yards in Baltimore, MD at 7:05 ET.
The posted total at Bookmaker Sportsbook is 8½ for this contest with the current odds on the ‘over’ set at -110.
The Orioles were the consensus pick to finish dead last in the loaded American League East this season, but the standings look upside down heading into Memorial Day weekend with Baltimore in first place with a one-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox, considered a top contender to win the division, in last place.
However, some order may starting to be restored as the Orioles just lost two of three games to those Red Sox, culminating with a 6-5 defeat on Wednesday. The Baltimore pitching staff which has been over-achieving for much of the season is also starting to come back down to reality, as the staff has a 5.73 ERA in the last five games.
One of those overachievers has been tonight’s starter Hammel, who is a sparkling 5-1 with a 3.12 ERA and 1.14 WHIP after a nondescript first six years in the Major Leagues that never saw Hammel post an ERA less than 4.33 or a WHIP less than 1.39. With that said, the wheels may be starting to come off for Hammel, although in all fairness he has been battling though some knee pain in recent starts.
Hammel allowed two runs or less in his first six starts this season, but he has now had back-to-back non-quality outings, first surrendering five runs on seven hits and three walks in just five innings vs. the New York Yankees and then allowing four runs on six hits plus two walks in 5.1 innings vs. the Washington Nationals in his last start on Saturday.
He is now facing a Kansas City lineup that has hit right-handers better (.261) than left-handers (.243) this season including a nice .278 vs. righties over the last five games, and Hamels has had his difficulties in three career starts vs. Kansas City while going 0-2 with a bloated 6.75 ERA.
The Royals are in fourth place in the American League Central and 8½ games behind the first place Cleveland Indians after losing two of three games to the Yankees in the Bronx, wrapping up with an 8-3 loss to ageless Andy Pettitte on Wednesday. Chen gets the call tonight, and although he is just 3-4 with a 4.17 ERA for the season, he is 3-0 with a 2.75 ERA in his last three starts.
We have never been huge fans of Chen though and we simply see his current hot streak as an aberration. He was hardly impressive in a 7-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks last time out, allowing eight hits plus two walks in 6.1 innings, and the southpaw now must contend with a Baltimore lineup that has done its best hitting vs. left-handed pitchers this season.
The Orioles are batting .265 vs. southpaws while averaging a hearty 5.04 runs per nine innings against them overall, and those numbers climb to .274 and 5.31 runs here at home.
Thus we look for both teams to score their fair share of runs tonight and for this game to reach double-digits combined, so take the ‘over’ in Baltimore on Friday.
The posted total at Bookmaker Sportsbook is 8½ for this contest with the current odds on the ‘over’ set at -110.
The Orioles were the consensus pick to finish dead last in the loaded American League East this season, but the standings look upside down heading into Memorial Day weekend with Baltimore in first place with a one-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox, considered a top contender to win the division, in last place.However, some order may starting to be restored as the Orioles just lost two of three games to those Red Sox, culminating with a 6-5 defeat on Wednesday. The Baltimore pitching staff which has been over-achieving for much of the season is also starting to come back down to reality, as the staff has a 5.73 ERA in the last five games.
One of those overachievers has been tonight’s starter Hammel, who is a sparkling 5-1 with a 3.12 ERA and 1.14 WHIP after a nondescript first six years in the Major Leagues that never saw Hammel post an ERA less than 4.33 or a WHIP less than 1.39. With that said, the wheels may be starting to come off for Hammel, although in all fairness he has been battling though some knee pain in recent starts.
Hammel allowed two runs or less in his first six starts this season, but he has now had back-to-back non-quality outings, first surrendering five runs on seven hits and three walks in just five innings vs. the New York Yankees and then allowing four runs on six hits plus two walks in 5.1 innings vs. the Washington Nationals in his last start on Saturday.
He is now facing a Kansas City lineup that has hit right-handers better (.261) than left-handers (.243) this season including a nice .278 vs. righties over the last five games, and Hamels has had his difficulties in three career starts vs. Kansas City while going 0-2 with a bloated 6.75 ERA.
The Royals are in fourth place in the American League Central and 8½ games behind the first place Cleveland Indians after losing two of three games to the Yankees in the Bronx, wrapping up with an 8-3 loss to ageless Andy Pettitte on Wednesday. Chen gets the call tonight, and although he is just 3-4 with a 4.17 ERA for the season, he is 3-0 with a 2.75 ERA in his last three starts.
We have never been huge fans of Chen though and we simply see his current hot streak as an aberration. He was hardly impressive in a 7-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks last time out, allowing eight hits plus two walks in 6.1 innings, and the southpaw now must contend with a Baltimore lineup that has done its best hitting vs. left-handed pitchers this season.
The Orioles are batting .265 vs. southpaws while averaging a hearty 5.04 runs per nine innings against them overall, and those numbers climb to .274 and 5.31 runs here at home.
Thus we look for both teams to score their fair share of runs tonight and for this game to reach double-digits combined, so take the ‘over’ in Baltimore on Friday.
Mlb Picks: Royals, Orioles ‘over’ 8½ (-110) +++
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