Baltimore Orioles vs. Cleveland Guardians Picks, Predictions, Odds

Baltimore Orioles vs. Cleveland Guardians Betting Analysis

The Orioles will visit Guardians at Progressive Field for the second of a three-game set on Wednesday, August 31, 2022.

Baltimore remains 11 games behind the New York Yankees and is in fourth place in the American League East with a 67-61 record, despite going 30-37 away from Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Guardians are the top team in the American League Central at 68-59, while posting a strong 33-25 record at home.

Baltimore Orioles vs. Cleveland Guardians Betting Prediction

The Orioles enter this matchup fourth in the AL East standings, 11 games behind the New York Yankees for first place. Despite being fourth in the AL East, the Orioles find themselves just three games behind Toronto for an AL Wild Card spot. Baltimore struggled against the Guardians on Wednesday losing 5-1 but have won six of their last 10 games. The Orioles offense had just one hit against Cleveland and starting pitcher Spenser Watkins gave up six hits and five runs in 4.2 innings of work. From a statistical standpoint, the Orioles are not a particularly good team, but they find ways to string together multiple wins in a row. The offense has a team batting average of .236 (22nd), on base percentage of .304 (25th), slugging percentage of .389 (16th) and have scored 539 total runs (20th) while the bullpen has a WHIP of 1.28 (17th) and team ERA of 3.85 (13th).  

Cleveland is currently atop the AL Central standings with a one and a half game lead over the second-place Minnesota Twins. The Guardians have won six of their last 10 games including game one of this series. Both sides of the ball played well during Tuesday’s win over Baltimore. The offense managed five runs on nine hits while the bullpen gave up a combined one hit and one run. Cleveland needs to be more consistent with this kind of offensive production entering the final stretch as they have struggled on the season with a batting average of .251 (10th), on base percentage of .312 (18th), slugging percentage of .383 (21st) and have scored 543 total runs (19th). The bullpen has been the main reason for Cleveland’s success with a WHIP of 1.18 (5th) and team ERA of 3.65 (8th).  

I like the under to hit in game two of this series. Neither of these teams have gone over the current total for this matchup (8) in their last five games. We could see a bit more offensive production from the Guardians going up against Jordan Lyles who has struggled this season, but I still think the total goes under here.  

Score Prediction: Guardians 4, Orioles 2
Best Bet: Under 8 (-105)

Baltimore Orioles vs. Cleveland Guardians Betting Odds

Baltimore Orioles vs. Cleveland Guardians Betting Resources

• Date: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
• Matchup: AL East vs. AL Central
• Venue: Progressive Field
• Location: Cleveland, Ohio
• Time-TV: 6:10 p.m. ET – MLB.tv

Baltimore Orioles vs. Cleveland Guardians – Current Form

In the first contest against the Astros on Friday, the Baltimore Orioles were in their best form in the last six games, not allowing the Houston Astros score one single run. The Guardians grabbed two of two games last Wednesday against the San Diego Padres, but were tripped up by the Mariners last Sunday. Their best performance was on Wednesday, when they limited the Padres to scoring no runs in the second contest of a two-game series.

Baltimore Orioles vs. Cleveland Guardians – Pitching Matchup

Baltimore: Jordan Lyles (9-9, 4.45 ERA)

Jordan Lyles takes the mound in the second game of a three-game series as he makes his 26th start of the season for the Orioles in this contest. He comes in 9-9 with a 4.45 ERA, a 1.46 WHIP, 45 walks and 121 strikeouts over 145.2 innings of work on the year. Baltimore’s 31-year-old right-hander didn’t factor in the decision in his last start, which came at home against the Chicago White Sox on August 25, 2022. He threw seven innings, allowing two runs on nine hits, and two strikeouts in a 4-3 the Orioles loss. Lyles is 5-7 with a 5.85 ERA across this season’s 14 starts on the road, which includes 24 walks, 73 strikeouts, and a 1.47 WHIP over 75.1 innings of action.

Cleveland: Triston McKenzie (9-10, 3.17 ERA)

Triston McKenzie takes the mound in the second game of a three-game series as he makes his 23th start of the season for the Guardians in this contest. He comes in 9-10 with a 3.17 ERA, a 0.95 WHIP, 37 walks and 142 strikeouts over 147.2 innings of work on the year. McKenzie lost his most recent start against the Seattle Mariners, as Cleveland’s right-hander surrendered three runs on three hits, two walks, and four strikeouts during the Guardians’ 3-1 road loss on August 25, 2022. McKenzie owns a home record of 5-2 this season, in nine starts at the Progressive Field. In those outings, he has posted a 2.78 ERA, a 0.87 WHIP, 13 walks, and 71 strikeouts in 58.1 innings of work.

Baltimore Orioles vs. Cleveland Guardians – Series History

Cleveland had a very solid 2021 season in its head-to-head encounters, going 5-2 overall. In four games this season, Cleveland has won three of the meetings.