Brian Matusz has now allowed three earned runs or less in six of his last seven starts after a slow beginning for the Orioles while Jeremy Hellickson of the Rays has a 1.63 ERA at home. Go ‘under’ in St. Petersburg on Saturday afternoon.
A couple of underrated pitchers may lead to a low scoring game on Saturday afternoon when Brian Matusz and the Baltimore Orioles (29-23 overall, 15-10 away) take on Jeremy Hellickson and the Tampa Bay Rays (30-22 overall, 18-10 home) as the top two teams in the American League East play the second game of a weekend three-game series from Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL at 4:10 ET.
The posted total at 5 Dimes is 8 for this contest with the current odds on the ‘under set at -120.
The Orioles had been in first place the entire season, but the Rays tied them in the standings on Wednesday and the Rays then took sole possession of first with a 5-0 shutout win here last night in the series opener, as David Price out-dueled Wei-Yin Chen.
Baltimore has been the most pleasant surprise in baseball as they are on pace to win 91 games after being projected to finish last in the East before the season, but they have probably simply overachieved as they are starting to come back to the pack with last night marking their sixth straight loss. They are struggling to score runs during this streak, scoring three runs or less in five of the six losses including scoring two runs or less in four of them.
Considering that the Baltimore starting pitchers have a cumulative 4.51 ERA, this team will continue to struggle when it does not score runs. With that said, today’s starter Matusz has been an exception as he has improved lately after a slow start to the year.
Matusz is 4-5 with a 4.82 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP, which is ironic because he was the one pitcher the Orioles expected to come into his own this year while they have instead gotten better than expected results from the more lightly regarded hurlers on the staff. Still, Matusz is starting to fill his enormous potential as his Quality Start vs. the Kansas City Royals Sunday marked the sixth time in his last seven starts that he has allowed three earned runs or less.
As you might expect given Matusz’s current form and the Orioles’ struggling offense, he has been a prime ‘under’ pitcher as it is 8-2 in all of his starts this season. That includes a 5-3 win over the Rays on May 12th where he allowed two earned runs in 5.2 innings, and the southpaw is facing a Rays’ lineup that is batting only .235 vs. left-handers this season including a woeful .189 here at home!
In fact, the Rays are hitting just .236 as a team overall, so they are winning because of great pitching, and Hellickson has been a huge part of that, allowing three earned runs or less in nine of his 10 starts this year with the only bad outing coming in his second start of the year.
Hellickson is 4-1 with a 2.83 ERA and 1.23 WHIP overall and he has done his best pitching here at home, where he owns a spiffy 1.63 ERA and 1.14 WHIP with 27 strikeouts against 12 walks in 38.2 innings. He has also allowed one run or less in four of his six career starts vs. the Orioles and he posted a Quality Start in his only appearance against them this year, allowing three runs on five hits in 6.2 innings at Baltimore on May 11th in a no-decision.
The ‘under’ is 6-2-2 in all of Hellickson’s starts and he is facing a Baltimore lineup that is hitting .239 vs. right-handers this season and, as mentioned, a lineup that is currently struggling to score runs.
Thus, we look for both pitchers to have enough success for this contest to stay ‘under’ this posted total on Saturday.
The posted total at 5 Dimes is 8 for this contest with the current odds on the ‘under set at -120.
The Orioles had been in first place the entire season, but the Rays tied them in the standings on Wednesday and the Rays then took sole possession of first with a 5-0 shutout win here last night in the series opener, as David Price out-dueled Wei-Yin Chen.
Baltimore has been the most pleasant surprise in baseball as they are on pace to win 91 games after being projected to finish last in the East before the season, but they have probably simply overachieved as they are starting to come back to the pack with last night marking their sixth straight loss. They are struggling to score runs during this streak, scoring three runs or less in five of the six losses including scoring two runs or less in four of them.Considering that the Baltimore starting pitchers have a cumulative 4.51 ERA, this team will continue to struggle when it does not score runs. With that said, today’s starter Matusz has been an exception as he has improved lately after a slow start to the year.
Matusz is 4-5 with a 4.82 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP, which is ironic because he was the one pitcher the Orioles expected to come into his own this year while they have instead gotten better than expected results from the more lightly regarded hurlers on the staff. Still, Matusz is starting to fill his enormous potential as his Quality Start vs. the Kansas City Royals Sunday marked the sixth time in his last seven starts that he has allowed three earned runs or less.
As you might expect given Matusz’s current form and the Orioles’ struggling offense, he has been a prime ‘under’ pitcher as it is 8-2 in all of his starts this season. That includes a 5-3 win over the Rays on May 12th where he allowed two earned runs in 5.2 innings, and the southpaw is facing a Rays’ lineup that is batting only .235 vs. left-handers this season including a woeful .189 here at home!
In fact, the Rays are hitting just .236 as a team overall, so they are winning because of great pitching, and Hellickson has been a huge part of that, allowing three earned runs or less in nine of his 10 starts this year with the only bad outing coming in his second start of the year.
Hellickson is 4-1 with a 2.83 ERA and 1.23 WHIP overall and he has done his best pitching here at home, where he owns a spiffy 1.63 ERA and 1.14 WHIP with 27 strikeouts against 12 walks in 38.2 innings. He has also allowed one run or less in four of his six career starts vs. the Orioles and he posted a Quality Start in his only appearance against them this year, allowing three runs on five hits in 6.2 innings at Baltimore on May 11th in a no-decision.
The ‘under’ is 6-2-2 in all of Hellickson’s starts and he is facing a Baltimore lineup that is hitting .239 vs. right-handers this season and, as mentioned, a lineup that is currently struggling to score runs.
Thus, we look for both pitchers to have enough success for this contest to stay ‘under’ this posted total on Saturday.
Orioles, Rays ‘under’ 8 (-120) +++
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