The Baltimore Orioles and the Pittsburgh Pirates meet Friday in MLB action from PNC Park. Here’s an Orioles vs Pirates prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for the game. We will examine:
- The Baltimore Orioles recent form and player performance
- The Pittsburgh Pirates recent form and player performance
- Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Baltimore Orioles
- Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Pittsburgh Pirates
- Recent betting trends in games played between the Orioles and Pirates
- A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Orioles vs Pirates game
Baltimore Orioles Betting Preview
The Orioles are fresh off a three-game series with the Kansas City Royals this week. Baltimore won 6-4 on Monday before a 4-1 game two loss. In the rubber match the O’s eked out a 4-3 victory to take the set. Baltimore’s James McCann notched two hits, two RBI and a run. Starting pitcher Corbin Burnes went 5.2 innings with two earned on nine hits.
In the starter role for the Friday game, the Orioles will go with Grayson Rodriguez. In his first start of the year Rodriguez put up a win with 6.0 innings of one-run ball against the Angels. Rodriguez has a career 8-4 record with a 4.22 ERA in 24 starts total.
Pittsburgh Pirates Betting Preview
Over on the Pirates’ side, they’re coming off a set versus the Washington Nationals. Pittsburgh won Monday 8-4, then took a 5-3 loss in the Wednesday matchup. On Thursday in the finale, Pittsburgh powered out a 7-4 victory with four first-inning runs. Both Connor Joe (two runs; homer) and Rowdy Tellez (two hits) each had a pair of RBI.
It’ll be Jared Jones in the starting pitcher role for the Pirates on Friday. In his first start this year Jones beat the Marlins with 5.2 innings and three earned runs with 10 Ks. It was the first MLB start of Jones’ career and gives him a 4.76 ERA in the early-going.
Pittsburgh Pirates Team Facts
- The Pirates have won each of their last six games after playing the previous day.
- The Pirates have failed to cover the run line in each of their last six games as home underdogs against American League opponents following a win.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Pirates’ last three day games at PNC Park.
- The Pirates have won the first inning in each of their last three games against the Orioles at PNC Park.
- The Pirates have led after 7 innings in four of their last six games as underdogs.
Baltimore Orioles Team Facts
- The Orioles have lost four of their last five games as favorites against NL Central opponents.
- The Orioles have failed to cover the run line each of their last five day games against teams that held a winning record.
- The Orioles have lost the first inning in each of their last three games as road favorites against NL Central opponents.
- The Orioles have trailed after 7 innings in four of their last five games as favorites against NL Central opponents.
- The Orioles have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last five road games against NL Central opponents.
Orioles vs Pirates Prediction
I’ll lean toward Baltimore here. The O’s should get a solid start out of Rodriguez if he can keep the momentum going. In that win over the Angels, Rodriguez posted one earned on four hits and one walk with nine Ks in 6.0 frames. Offensively the Orioles have been pretty solid with four or more runs in four of their six games so far.
As for Pittsburgh, they started out great on offense with six or more runs in each of their first five games (all wins). On Thursday the Pirates got off to a fast start and ended up with 11 team hits. It was a pretty solid offensive effort overall. That said, I don’t think they’ll keep up with Baltimore if the O’s are playing well.