Clay Buchholz (1-1, 7.84 ERA) and Chris Tillman (1-1, 7.71 ERA) take the hill in the second of a four-game series between the Boston Red Sox (7-3) and the Baltimore Orioles (5-5) at Fenway Park. The Red Sox won the last game 3-2 and Boston leads the series 1-0. Action begins at 4:05 p.m. ET on Saturday, Apr. 18 and can be seen on FS1, MASN2 and NESN.
Buchholz is 9-4 with a 3.86 ERA in his appearances against the Orioles, and goes up against a good Baltimore offense which is batting .259 this season. Xander Bogaerts (.395, 7 Rs, 8 RBIs, 2 SBs) had a good game yesterday, going 2 for 4 with one run and one RBI. When pitching against the Red Sox, Tillman is 7-3 with a 2.69 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, and 77 strikeouts. Adam Jones (.389, 10 Rs, 4 HRs, 11 RBIs) went 1 for 4 yesterday.
Boston is a -135 favorite against Baltimore and the Over/Under (O/U) for this game is sitting at nine runs. The Red Sox have an overall money line of +251 and a record as the favorite of 3-2. The Red Sox have no trouble scoring as they rank second in the AL in offense with 6.2 runs per game. Boston leads the whole AL in walks, earning an average of 4.6 per game. Turning to the pitchers, opponents have consistently been struck out by the Red Sox, who rank third in the AL in strikeouts per game with 8.9.
In games where it is the underdog, Baltimore has a 1-1 record and an overall money line of +69. They are 1-1 as the underdog against AL East rivals, and 5-4 SU.
The Red Sox have the edge in the season series, 1-0. The Red Sox have a 5-2 record against right-handed starting pitchers on the year, which is what they’ll be facing when Tillman takes the mound. Buchholz (RHP) will be on the hill against the Orioles, who have a 4-3 record against right-handed starting pitchers.
Predictions: SU Winner – BOS, O/U – Over
Notes
In their last game, the Orioles lost by a margin of one run. The Red Sox are 3-0 in one-run games. The Orioles have a 2-2 record in close games.
The Red Sox are 1-0 when they go into extra innings.
The Orioles managed to give up seven walks in their last game. They’ll have to pick it up against the Red Sox who are heading in with a 3-0 record against opponents who give up that many walks or more.
When they outhit their opponents, the Orioles are 4-2. The Red Sox have a 6-0 record when outhitting opponents.
Ranking seventh in runs, Baltimore has earned 49 this season. Boston ranks fourth with 59 runs.
Ranking first in walks, Boston has earned 48 this season. Baltimore ranks 15th with 28 walks.
The Red Sox are 5-2 in games where they hit one or more home runs. The Orioles are 5-4 when they hit at least one homer.
