The Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets are set for an interleague matchup on Tuesday night at Citi Field in Queens.
The Orioles remain in the hunt for the final AL wild card spot, but barely. Baltimore owns an overall record of 73-78 and is now three games back of Cleveland in the AL wild card race.
The Orioles are not mathematically eliminated yet, but they would need a serious hot streak over the final two weeks of the regular season, as well as plenty of help, to make the postseason.
On the other side, the Mets have been eliminated from playoff contention. New York is 69-81 on the season, which gives them the third-worst record in the National League.
First pitch for this matchup is slated for 7:10 p.m. ET.
Orioles vs. Mets betting picks and predictions
Orioles ML (+110)
The pitching matchup in this contest pits Baltimore’s Shane Baz against New York’s Sean Manaea. Neither has posted otherworldly numbers this season, but Baz has been a bit more reliable in recent outings.
Since the beginning of July, Baz has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 10 of his 12 starts. He has not benefited from reliable run support in those outings, but he has put his team in great positions to win. Run support could be a bit easier to find in this matchup against Manaea.
Manaea enters this contest with an ERA of 4.79 through 30 starts and 133.1 innings of work. His xERA sits even higher at 4.97, and opponents are hitting a solid .267 with an OPS of .808 against him. He has allowed at least four earned runs in each of his last five outings, and has just six strikeouts through his last 10.2 innings.
The Orioles scored just two runs in the series opener on Monday night, but they should be able to put forth a better offensive outing on Tuesday.
Look for Baz to keep the Mets in check while the Baltimore bats give Manaea some trouble. With odds of +110, the Orioles are the team to back on the moneyline.
Over 8 (-105)
The New York offense has been in a solid groove so far in September. Through 12 games this month, the Mets own a strong .803 OPS, which ranks 4th in all of baseball. They’ve scored 79 total runs in that span, which is good for the second-most in MLB. Baz hasn’t been overwhelmingly dominant, and he still owns a 4.18 ERA through 14 road starts this season.
With the way the Mets are swinging the bats right now, they should be able to have a successful day at the plate.
As previously mentioned, Manaea hasn’t been too trustworthy on the mound this season. He is off to a rough start in September, as he’s surrendered nine earned runs on 16 hits through two starts and 10.2 innings.
That equates to a less-than-ideal ERA of 7.59, and things won’t get any easier as he goes up against a Baltimore lineup that hits lefties well. Specifically, the Orioles rank 11th in MLB with a team OPS of .717 against southpaws.
All in all, this isn’t a matchup between two dominant pitchers. Both offenses should be able to plate enough runs to take this one over the listed total of 8.
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