Baltimore Orioles vs. Boston Red Sox Preview
Where: Fenway Park— Boston, Massachusetts
When: Friday, August 25, 2017 – 7:10 PM ET
Line: Baltimore Orioles (+143) at Boston Red Sox (-158); total: 10.0 – view all MLB lines
TV Broadcast: NESN, MASN
MLB World Series News and Previews
- Cleveland Indians vs. Minnesota Twins Preview –August 17, 2017
- Tampa Bay Rays vs. Toronto Blue Jays – August 17, 2017
- Chicago White Sox vs. Texas Rangers Betting Preview – August 17, 2017
Betting on the Baltimore Orioles (62-65)
The Baltimore Orioles returned to winning ways Wednesday with a thrilling 8-7 victory over the Oakland Athletics. Manny Machado’s 12th-inning blast enabled Baltimore to win two of three from Oakland and in the process remain relevant in the wild-card chase. With the victory, the Orioles moved to within 3.5 games of the Minnesota Twins for the second and final wild card spot in the American League.
They will look to slice that deficit even further when they face the Red Sox later tonight. For the O’s to grab the all-important road victory, they will need Machado to continue his excellent form. He’s batting .340 in the month of August, with 31 RBIs and a .722 slugging percentage. That’s quite a remarkable turnaround for Machado who had a woeful .246 batting average and .441 slugging percentage the previous three months. The third baseman also drove in just 53 runs from April to July.
Betting on the Boston Red Sox (73-54)
Starting for the Red Sox in the series opener is Rick Porcello (8-14, 4.48 ERA). The right-hander was solid in his last start against the New York Yankees, throwing six innings of one-run ball. The reigning AL Cy Young winner threw 65 percent of his pitches for strikes and induced six ground ball outs in this quality start.
He’s starting to look like the Porcello of old with the 28-year-old now winning each of his last four starts. Porcello will look to keep the momentum going against the Orioles Friday night. He is 0-2 against Baltimore this season with a 3.75 ERA. Porcello will need to be extra careful with the red-hot Machado, though. Machado has 10 hits in 33 career at-bats against Porcello with two homers and four RBIs.
Porcello can’t do it all alone, though, and he needs the Red Sox hitters to contribute on the offensive end as well. Expected to lead Boston in that department is Mookie Betts. He leads the Red Sox not only in hits but also in RBIs this season. He’s a perfect 5-of-5 in his career against Baltimore starter Jeremy Hellickson with a homer and two RBIs. Hellickson (7-7, 5.00 ERA) has struggled mightily of late, allowing a combined 13 runs in his last 9.2 innings for the Orioles.
Writer’s Prediction
The Orioles (+143) stun the Red Sox, 7-4.
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