Major League Baseball’s grass roots effort to grow the game among a larger and younger audience continues when the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles clash Sunday in the MLB Little League Classic in Williamsport, PA, host of the little league world series. A 3,000-seat minor league park would have been perfect for the O’s in previous seasons, but not in 2022. They’ve already won more games than in any of the previous four seasons and enter the weekend in the thick of the playoff race by winning 26 of 38 games since July 3.
Red Sox vs Orioles Date & Time
The MLB Little League Classic between AL East foes Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles takes place on Sunday, August 21, 2022 at 7:10 p.m. ET from Muncy Bank Ballpark in Williamsport. The game will air live on ESPN with betting options for every game on the 2022 MLB schedule available at BookMaker.eu.
Red Sox vs Orioles Date & Time
Boston Red Sox (Check Back Later)
Baltimore Orioles (Check Back Later)
Total (Check Back Later)
Season So Far…
A reason why the Sox are a .500 team and in last place in the AL East is their struggling pitching staff. Outside of Michael Wacha, who missed over a month on the IL, no regular starter has an ERA under 4.00. The bullpen hasn’t been much better posting a 4.40 ERA and the fifth-fewest saves while blowing 15 save opportunities. They have a good enough offense to string some wins together when the staff cooperates. They swept a two-game series from Pittsburgh extending their streak of allowing three runs or less to six games with Wednesday’s 8-3 triumph. The Sox also went 5-1 in that span with the UNDER 4-1-1.
With a lot of divisional games remaining the Sox need to start performing better against their AL East brethren. They took two of three from the Yankees last weekend and beat the O’s in a makeup game giving them three wins in four outings against their rivals. But they have a long way to go since they are only 15-30 against the division. Their most success has come against the O’s with a record of 4-5 with the UNDER 5-3-1.
Regardless of what happens the rest of the way, the season is a success considering where the Orioles came from. And they’ve gotten better as the season progressed with the playoffs a real possibility for a team that had a projected win total of 60. The O’s were winning 44.3 percent of their games at the start of July, which would be their highest winning percentage in five seasons.
The O’s weren’t content, though. Starting July 3 they rattled off 10 straight wins going 26-12 in 38 games since, the best mark in the AL. And they’re winning without being great in any area. They rank in the bottom third in MLB averaging 4.23 runs with a .237 team batting average and 3.93 staff ERA. If you backed them from the start you’d be a wealthy individual. The O’s are the best investment in MLB up $2,548 on the moneyline.
Probable Pitchers
He hasn’t been great but Nick Pivetta (9-9, 4.28 ERA) has been durable. He makes his 25th start Sunday coming off his best outing of the year blanking the Pirates on one hit over seven innings to earn his first win in nine starts. All 12 of his quality starts have come in his past 19 outings and outside of a three-game stretch to start July where he allowed 23 hits and 20 runs over 13.1 innings, he’s been really good. He faced the O’s twice in May allowing three runs over 4.1 innings of 9-5 loss to start the month. He closed it with a win giving up one run over six innings. The teams cashed the OVER in both games and the Sox are 9-1 against the OVER in Pivetta’s last 10 starts.
Acquired from the Dodgers in the Manny Machado trade, Dean Kremer (5-4, 3.58 ERA) has established himself in the O’s rotation going 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA and 1.00 WHIP over his last three starts. If not for another awful outing against the Sox the numbers would be better. Two starts ago he allowed four runs and six hits over 5.2 frames taking a 4-3 loss. He lost all three of his starts to the Sox posting a 9.45 ERA and 1.73 WHIP over 13.1 innings. To become a fixture in the rotation silencing division opponents on a more consistent basis is needed.
Red Sox vs Orioles Predictions
If they can get to the Sox bullpen early the O’s have a good chance of winning. Boston’s relievers have struggled all season, and Baltimore feeds off weak arms. At this point I think it’s safe to say the Orioles have arrived. It’s kinda like the movie Major League with a bunch of no-names doing a lot of damage. I expect more of the same on Sunday.
Our Prediction: Baltimore Orioles / OVER
