Reds vs Orioles Betting Preview: Two Surprising Teams Ready to Rumble
Reds Look to Stay on Top of NL Central Standings
Orioles Eager to Add to Total of 24 Home Victories in 2023
Not too many people would have had a late-June series between the Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles featuring one team leading the National League Central Division race and the other with the second-best winning percentage in the American League. The Reds vs Orioles Betting Preview favors host Baltimore in the opener.
The Reds had a 12-game winning streak, the longest for the franchise since 1957, before dropping two of three games to the Atlanta Braves. Baltimore is just 5-5 over the last 10 games but still has a better record than four of the six division leaders when looking at the MLB standings.
Cincinnati is tied for fourth in the National League with 20 wins. Baltimore is one of four teams in the majors at least 10 games over .500 at home.
When looking at the MLB games being played today, the series opener has one of the highest totals of 9.5 runs as Cincinnati starting pitcher Brandon Williamson has a 5.64 ERA in June and Cole Irvin of the Orioles has allowed five home runs in 23.1 innings this season. Look for the total to drop in Game 2 with impressive rookie Andrew Abbott going for Cincinnati and Baltimore countering with Tyler Wells (3.04 ERA in June).
Baltimore (+3000) is 12th in the odds to win the World Series. Cincinnati (+8000) is tied for 21st in the championship odds.
Reds vs Orioles
Date, time:
Location: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD
Streaming: Bally Sports Ohio, MASN
Probable Pitching Matchups
- Monday: Brandon Williamson (Reds); Cole Irvin (Orioles)
- Tuesday: Andrew Abbott (Reds); Tyler Wells (Orioles)
- Wednesday: Luke Weaver (Reds); Kyle Gibson (Orioles)
Big Mac Attack
The future of the Cincinnati Reds has been on display with plenty of call-ups and the result has been a surprising run to the top of the National League Central Division.
One of the key players during the surge has been middle infielder Matt McLain.
McLain had seven hits over the last two games with a double, two home runs and seven RBIs. He is hitting .339 over the last 10 games with 12 RBIs and nine runs scored. Still, the Reds vs Orioles Betting Preview favor the Orioles in the series opener.
The total has gone over in four of the last five games played by the Reds.
Santander Going Deep
Anthony Santander didn’t have a home run in his first 14 games in June. Let’s just say that he is making up for lost time.
The outfielder has homered in five of the last six games. He is batting .385 with six runs and nine RBIs during that span as he raised his batting average from .259 to .271.
Three of Santander’s home runs this season have come against National League teams. He is just one of the reasons why the Orioles are favored according to the Reds vs Orioles Betting Preview.
The total has finished over the total in four of Baltimore’s last five contests.
Who’s Hot
- Felix Bautista, Baltimore Orioles P: Bautista has allowed four hits and one run with 20 strikeouts in 9.2 innings in nine games in June.
- Fernando Cruz, Cincinnati Reds P: Cruz hasn’t allowed a run in his last six appearances. He has allowed one hit and struck out seven innings.
- Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati Reds IF: De La Cruz was 15-for-30 with seven extra-base hits and three stolen bases in a seven-game stretch before going 0-for-5 on Sunday.
- Austin Hays, Baltimore Orioles OF: Hays is batting .405 with six extra-base hits and eight runs over his last 11 games.
Who’s Not
- Kyle Gibson, Baltimore Orioles P: Gibson is 1-2 with a 5.75 ERA in his first four starts in June. He is coming off his shortest stint of the season when he allowed seven hits and five runs in three innings.
- Jonathan India, Cincinnati Reds IF: India is 2-for-17 with seven strikeouts over his last five games.
- Adley Rutschman, Baltimore Orioles C: Rutschman is 0-for-14 with six strikeouts over his last four games.
- Luke Weaver, Cincinnati Reds P: Weaver has allowed 28 hits and 20 runs in 16.2 innings in his last four starts.
Reds vs Orioles Injury Update
The Reds are hoping to get pitchers Justin Dunn, Reiver Sanmartin and Tony Santillan back by early July.
Pitchers Mychal Givens and Austin Voth are sidelined until early next month for the Orioles.
Reds vs Orioles Betting Preview
- Cincinnati is third among teams in the majors with 35 home runs in the month of June and Baltimore is tied for seventh with 29 home runs so there could be some runs scored in this series.
- There are 12 players on the active rosters of the Reds and Orioles aged 25 or younger and that includes some of the most important players on both sides.
- Baltimore had won seven of eight games against the Reds before the Reds took the last two games in a series in late July last season.
- Four of the last five games between the teams finished under the total.
- Baltimore is 27-7 when listed as a favorite this season with Cincinnati just 27-29 as the underdog.
- These are two of the top three teams in the majors when it comes to the run line trends with both teams over 60%.
