If your favorite baseball team isn't playing tonight, make the games more interesting by betting on MLB odds at BookMaker Sportsbook! This is the only online wagering outlet that offers early MLB moneylines, runlines and totals. First pitch for the game between the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles is scheduled for Saturday, April 25, 2015, at 7:05 p.m. ET at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The game will be televised live on NESN and MASN2.
ODDS ANALYSIS
The Sox enter the series following losses in the final two games of a three-game series at Tampa Bay with faltering run production. The Sox scored six or more runs in six of their first eight games and eight or more runs four times prompting visions of a team bashing their way through the summer. The Sox were limited to three runs or fewer three times in a four-game set last weekend with the O’s and the Rays held them to a single run twice in three games played at the Trop. The Sox played the under five times in seven games prior to this series after exceeding the total in eight of their first nine games.
Over the course of six months and 162 major league games things have a way of leveling off. They already have through the first three weeks of this season for these teams, who both enter the weekend set struggling. Fortunately for one club there has to be a winner. The O’s were swept in Toronto falling to 7-9 and last place in AL East, two games off the pace entering this series. Baltimore has been a steady play on the over going 9-6-1 but down 1.94 units on the moneyline and 3.62 units on the runline. Three of four games between the O’s and Sox last weekend were held under the total.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Facing the O’s for the second time in a week, Justin Masterson (2-0, 5.74 ERA) gets the call for the Red Sox. He tossed five innings of one-run ball Monday in the Sox 7-1 rain-shortened win at Fenway Park. Masterson held the O’s to three hits with three walks and five strikeouts dropping his ERA from 7.59 to 5.74.
In 13 career starts and 17 games against Baltimore Masterson is 7-6 with a 5.28 ERA and has been roughed up in Camden Yards. He is 2-4 in nine games – seven starts – with a 7.71 ERA and 1.74 WHIP in 42 innings.
Wei-Yin Chen (0-1, 3.07 ERA) has yet to register a win in three starts for the Orioles and faces Masterson and the Sox for the second time in five days. Chen didn’t allow an earned run but walked five over 4.1 innings in a loss at Boston on Monday. Chen was victimized by three errors, one of which he committed, in the loss.
Chen has started 12 games against the Sox in his career going 5-4 with a 3.97 ERA over 68 innings. He is 18-10 in 43 lifetime starts at Camden Yards with a 3.84 ERA.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“Everybody in the league knows what kind of offense we have. It’s been historic since I’ve been here and everybody plays good against us. They always seem to get up for a Red Sox series and I don’t think anybody would have it any other way. It’s just sometimes you get the sort end of the stick.” – Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz
LIVE BETTING or SITUATIONAL BETTING
The Orioles have a quality closer in Zach Britton, who nailed down a save with a 1-2-3 ninth inning against the Sox last Saturday. If the game is close late and Britton enters, pay attention to the Sox batting order. Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz have been slotted in the second and third spots in the Sox order and if they get a crack at Britton they usually make something happen. Pedroia is a lifetime .636 hitter against Britton with seven hits in 11 at-bats while Ortiz bats .417 with a homer and five RBIs against the O’s closer.
PROP TALK
Now in his 10th season Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia isn’t the player he was a few years ago, but who is. He still motivates the team with his hustle and enthusiasm while hitting around .250 this season, well below his standards and career average, but all the Sox have had a tough time getting hits recently. Pedroia is second on the team with four home runs, more than David Ortiz, Pablo Sandoval and Mike Napoli combined, and enjoys hitting against the O’s with a lifetime .323 average. More impressive is his .517 career average against Chen. Watch for Pedroia and his hit total against the O’s.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
After being held to three hits Thursday by Tampa Bay the Red Sox saw their team batting average dip to .230, the lowest of any Sox team 16 games in since 1992 when Bob Zupcic led that team with a .276 average. There were no All-Stars the magnitude of Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval on that roster and you certainly can’t expect Ortiz, Mike Napoli, Mookie Betts and Allen Craig to remain under the Mendoza Line all summer.
The O’s are searching for the magic that helped them win 96 games and the AL East title last season. They didn’t find it in Toronto getting swept by the Jays after allowing 24 runs in three games. The offense has been fine but the pitching shaky early on with the team going 5-5 when scoring five or more runs. The slumping Sox are the remedy for O’s starter Wei-Yin Chen as the O’s take the middle of this three-game set.
Baltimore 5, Boston 2
The MLB odds for this game will be available first at BookMaker Sportsbook. BookMaker is going to have multiple betting options available for this nationally-televised baseball matchup. Live wagering during commercials offers an adjusted moneyline, individual inning run totals and next hitter results. Log in and start gambling during the game now!
Load your betting bankroll from your smartphone with BookMaker’s new cashier feature! Depositing and withdrawing funds from your account has never been easier. BookMaker's live betting platform means you always have access to odds and lines to every sporting event. Click here and start wagering today! First pitch for the game between the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles is scheduled for Saturday, April 25, 2015, at 7:05 p.m. ET at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The game will be televised live on NESN and MASN2.
