Sports Betting OverviewThe MLB betting world is pretty familiar with the situation the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles are in right now. The Red Sox are fighting for the AL East pennant while the Orioles are languishing in the AL East basement. But the early season MLB baseball news was telling a much different story. The Orioles looked like they may be the team to beat in the AL East as the Yankees and the Red Sox were faltering early on. But the MLB scores slowly turned in favor of the Red Sox and against the Orioles, and now the Red Sox lead the AL East by a game and a half over the Yankees.
The Orioles could not sustain their early success and have fallen to a pace that is 18 and a half games out of first place in the AL East. Where there used to be visions of a playoff spot in Baltimore, there is now the familiar despair of a losing season. The Orioles pitching gave out only a month or so into the season, and now Baltimore is left with a team that can hit but cannot sustain leads on the mound. The Red Sox are trying to put even more distance between themselves and the rest of the AL East, and have come out of the All-Star break in fine fashion. The Orioles had problems after the break, but have started to turn things around a bit.
Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox are starting to watch the Tampa Bay Rays fade out of the AL East pennant picture and are left with just the New York Yankees. Boston has won eight of its last 10 games, and is currently on a two-game winning streak. Taking the mound for the Red Sox in this game will be knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. Wakefield is 5-3 this season with a 4.74 ERA, but he is chasing 200 career wins. If he can win this game, it will be win number 199. His last start was a win over the Toronto Blue Jays in which he struck out seven batters and only allowed three runs.
Baltimore Orioles
Brad Bergensen starts on the mound for the Orioles in this game. He is a young pitcher that has spent most of the season in the bullpen. At this point, Baltimore will be taking a look at young players to see if they can improve their starting rotation for next year. Bergensen is 1-6 on the season with a 5.65 ERA. He last faced the Red Sox on July 8th and threw three scoreless innings. His last start was a nine-inning shutout of the Tampa Bay Rays on May 14th. Bergensen has promise, and the Orioles are going to need promise if they want to improve their pitching.
The Bottom Line
The Orioles may be able to hit Wakefield’s knuckleball, but Bergensen may find the powerful Boston batting order a little much to handle. The Orioles need pitching that can stand up to the offense of the Yankees and Red Sox, but this may not be the time they find it.
BSNblog Pick: Boston Red Sox
