Boston Red Sox vs Baltimore Orioles 7/25/18 Odds, Preview and Prediction

The Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles will finish their current series at Oriole Park on Wednesday 7/25/18.

The Orioles squeezed past the Red Sox 7-6 on Tuesday as Baltimore survived four home runs from the Red Sox and won for the first time since the All-Star break. The loss was only the third in the last 18 games for the Red Sox who own the best record in the Majors at 71-32.

Baltimore’s Rebuild

Jonathan Schoop and Tim Beckham homered and drove three runs each for Baltimore which won for only the second time in 12 games against the Red Sox this season and snapped a nine-game home losing streak to their division rivals Red Sox. With the worst record in the Big League at 29-73, Baltimore began their rebuilding process by trading All-Star shortstop Manny Machado to the Los Angeles Dodgers last week.

While the Orioles are struggling, the Red Sox are off to the best start in Major League Baseball history. After being tied with the Yankees for the most part of the season, The Red Sox now hold a five-game lead over their chief rivals. Boston’s success this season is largely attributed to its powerhouse offense which has six players exceeding the 45 RBI mark already.

Powerhouse Offense

Leading the way for the Red Sox is MVP candidate JD Martinez who homered twice against the Orioles on Tuesday to increase his season total to 31 home runs. Complimenting Martinez is the league’s most consistent batter in Mookie Betts. Betts is currently batting 23 percentage points better than anyone in the Majors. Betts also has 24 homers, 25 doubles and 52 RBIs this season for the Red Sox.

Adam Jones is the Orioles’ best hitter this season with 108 hits, 39 runs, 37 RBIs and 10 home runs. During Tuesday’s rare win over the Red Sox, Jones had one hit and one RBI. With Manny Machado gone, the Orioles currently don’t have a single batter with at least 40 RBIs.

Boston Red Sox vs Baltimore Orioles 7/25/18
Odds: Red Sox -190, Orioles +160
(Odds from Betway as of July 24, 2018)

Turning Things Around

Lefty David Price (11-6, 4.17 ERA) will start for the Red Sox on Wednesday. The 32 year old Vanderbilt product tossed 6.1 scoreless innings during Boston’s 1-0 win over Detroit last Friday. Price allowed four hits, one walk and struck out five in that game.

Despite a poor start to the current month where he averaged 9.20 ERA in his previous three outings, Price appears ready to turn things around. Wednesday should be a good start. Price is an unbeaten 7-0 lifetime at Camden Yards. The left hander is also 13-5 overall against the Baltimore Orioles. Boston is also 11-2 in Price’s last 13 starts and 5-1 in his last six starts against teams from the AL East.

Bundy’s Struggles

For the Orioles, it’s Dylan Bundy (6-9, 4.57 ERA) who gets the call to start in the series finale. Bundy didn’t get a decision in his last outing against the Toronto Blue Jays last Friday, a game which the Orioles lost 7-8 in extra innings. Bundy gave up five runs on five hits, including three homers over five innings while striking out three batters.

The All-Star break didn’t help Bundy get over his recent struggles. The right hander has allowed five earned runs in each of his last three starts with a K:BB of 8:6 in 12.1 innings during that stretch. Baltimore is 3-13 in Bundy’s last 16 starts against AL East squads and 2-5 in his last seven starts at home. As a team, the Orioles are 1-4 in their last five Wednesday games and 7-24 in their previous 31 Game 3’s of a series.

Who Wins?

David Price has been solid this year (except perhaps against the Yankees) and he has won his last three outings. On the other hand, Dylan Bundy has coughed up 15 earned runs in a span of 12 ⅓ innings during his last three starts which were all losses.

The Orioles may be fresh off a 7-6 win over the Red Sox on Tuesday, but the Red Sox haven’t lost too many games this season. On the other hand, Baltimore is the only team in Major League Baseball not to have at least 30 wins this season. It’s hard to bet against the Red Sox.