Baltimore Orioles (1-0) vs. Boston Red Sox (0-1)
April 1, 2023 4:10 pm EDT
The Line: Boston Red Sox -182 / Baltimore Orioles +140; Over/Under: 9
(Get latest betting odds)
The Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox meet Saturday in MLB action from Fenway Park. This wil be the second installment in a three-game weekend series. In the Thursday opener matchup, the Orioles eked out a high-scoring victory. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore posted their first winning season since 2016 last year, going 83-79 overall and finishing in fourth place in a tough AL East. On Thursday, the Orioles kicked off the 2023 campaign with a bang, taking out the Red Sox 10-9 on 15 team hits.
As starter for game two on Saturday, the Orioles are going with Dean Kremer. Last season over 22 games (21 starts), Kremer went 8-7 overall with a 3.23 ERA. In 125.1 innings he had 87 strikeouts. Kremer is 9-15 with a 4.55 ERA in 39 career games (38 starts).
Boston Red Sox
Over on the Boston side, they were a rough 78-84 last season and landed in fifth place in the division. In Thursday’s loss, the Red Sox recorded 11 team hits and scored five runs in the final two frames but couldn’t complete the comeback. Starter Corey Kluber went 3.1 innings with five earned.
Saturday’s starter will be Chris Sale. Last season Sale was only able to play two games, going 0-1 with a 3.18 ERA and 5.2 innings total. Over his career Sale is 114-75 with a 3.03 ERA. In 323 games (243 starts) and 1678.0 innings Sale has 2064 strikeouts with a 1.04 WHIP.
The Orioles are 106-217 in their last 323 versus the AL East and 0-5 in their last five after a win. Baltimore is 0-4 in their last four Saturday games.
Meanwhile, the Sox are 6-1 in their last seven at home and 17-35 in their last 52 after a loss. Boston is 17-35 in their last 52 versus the AL East.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll probably stay with Boston here. It’ll be an interesting matchup though; we’ll get to see what Sale can do after missing most of 2022 with injuries—most recently a broken right wrist suffered in August. If he can stay on the field this season, Sale will be a big asset to the rotation. The Red Sox certainly need the boost after Kluber’s five earned in 3.1 innings on Thursday. As for Baltimore, they had some mixed results from their pitching staff on Thursday. That said, the offense did great; Adley Rutschman in particular went 5-for-5 with four RBI and a walk. This one should be another close game, and I like the Sox to get some revenge to even the series.
