Can The Orioles Win Back-To-Back Series’ To Begin The Season?
Game 1 Royals vs Orioles Odds Have Baltimore Listed as Favorites
After a series win over the Angels, the Baltimore Orioles will welcome the Kansas City Royals to Oriole Park for a three-game series to begin the week.
Heading into the year, the Orioles have high expectations. Baltimore has a lot of young talent and added a pitcher in Corbin Burnes, who will get another start in this series against Kansas City.
On the other hand, the Royals don’t have nearly the same expectations. They’ve begun the season 1-2, thanks to an 11-0 win over the Twins last night. But the Royals lost those first two games of the series and aren’t expected to be in the MLB playoff picture this season.
In this three-game series, we’ll get matchups between the No. 4 starters, No. 5 starters, and No. 1 starters in the respective rotations. That final game should be exciting.
However, we’re not there yet. We’ve only got the odds for the first game of this series. In that game, the Orioles are solid favorites, sitting at -153. The total for the first game of this series is currently 8.5, with the Under juiced to -120.
Below, we’ll provide a rundown of the Royals vs Orioles odds for Game 1, along with the other two games in this series.
Kansas City Royals vs Baltimore Orioles 
Date, time:
Location: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD
RP Cionel Perez Lands on Injured List for Orioles
Just a couple of games into the season, Cionel Perez landed on the injured list after throwing just six pitches in Saturday’s win over the Angels.
Perez grabbed his lower back after delivering his sixth pitch of the game and was taken out of the game after the trainers looked at him.
He has no timeline for his return, but the Orioles would love to have him back as soon as possible. He’s one of only three lefties in the bullpen and was super consistent in 2023 after earning a 3.54 ERA with 44 strikeouts in 65 games.
However, it’s too early for any MLB trade rumors with this news.
Kansas City Can Always Count on Salvador Perez
The Royals desperately needed a win before heading into this series against the Orioles. So they did.
The Royals added an 11-0 win against the Twins, led by Salvador Perez’s 3-5 game with a three-run home, four RBI night. He also scored two runs in the game.
He was hitless in the first two games where the Royals lost. But when he produced, the Royals won. It’s no coincidence.
Royals vs. Orioles Odds Game 1: RL Orioles (+135), ML Orioles -153, O/U 8.5 +100/-120
Game 1
Monday, 6:35 pm ET
Michael Wacha vs. Dean Kremer
The Royals will send out veteran pitcher Michael Wacha for the first game of this series. Wacha finished last year with a 14-4 record and had a 3.22 ERA with 124 strikeouts in 134.1 innings.
That was Wacha’s second season with double-digit wins. In the last two seasons, he’s only lost six games total and has added a 3.32 ERA or better in each of the previous two seasons.
Against Wacha, righties hit a .175 ISO and only struck out 21.8% of the time last season. That’s really his only weakness.
On the other hand, Dean Kremer will make his season debut for the Orioles. Kremer had a good 2023 after allowing a 4.12 ERA with a 13-5 record. He shut down righties well as a righty but struggled a little against lefties, allowing a .203 ISO and wOBA of .359. The righties in the Kansas City lineup deserve a look against Kremer.
Those righties include Bobby Witt, Salvador Perez, and Nelson Velazquez.
Ultimately, the Royals could be a live dog at +140 in this matchup.
Game 2
Tuesday, 6:35 pm ET
Alec Marsh vs. Cole Irvin
In the second game of the series, Alec Marsh will take the hill for the Royals. Marsh didn’t have the season Wacha had. Instead, he had a 5.69 ERA in 74.1 innings pitched. While he struck out 85 batters, he also had a WHIP of 1.56.
Marsh finished last season, allowing a .259 ISO and wOBA of .385, and walked more than 11% of batters faced.
Guys like Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, and Anthony Santander are in line for big games against Marsh.
Marsh will face Cole Irvin, who only threw 77.1 innings last year. The left-hander didn’t have an easy time against other righties, allowing a .188 ISO and wOBA of .324.
As acknowledged before, this is a matchup between two No. 5 pitchers in the respective rotations. Both offenses have good enough numbers to help hit the Over. We suggest smacking the Over when the Royals vs Orioles odds for this game come out.
Game 3
Wednesday, 1:05 pm ET
Cole Ragans vs. Corbin Burnes
Cole Ragans will get his second start of the season. His first one was pretty spectacular for Kansas City after earning nine strikeouts in six innings. While his WHIP increased to 1.33, he’s a left-handed pitcher with much potential to be an All-Star caliber starter this year.
Ragans struck out over 30% of righties last season and added 28.8% of strikeouts throughout the season. He also held batters to a .108 ISO and wOBA of .271 last year, which was also super impressive. He’ll only grow with the Royals moving forward.
Ragans will face one of baseball’s best starters, Corbin Burnes. Burnes added 11 strikeouts in his first start with Baltimore and finished with a 1.50 ERA in six innings pitched. Burnes only went 10-8 last year with his MLB stats after achieving a 3.39 ERA in 193.2 innings.
With the Orioles, his win-loss record should be much better now. He’s on a Baltimore team with so much potential in the lineup. The Brewers were never consistent offensively.
We’ll likely see many strikeouts in this game. The Orioles will likely hold on, but the Under is probably a solid play as well when the Royals vs Orioles odds come out.
Royals vs Orioles odds
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