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On Opening Day, the Baltimore Orioles picked up a close win over the Boston Red Sox in a game that had plenty of offense. The two teams are back at Fenway park tonight for Game 2 of the series, with first pitch set for 4:10 p.m. ET.
DraftKings Sportsbook has the Red Sox as -165 favorites on the money line, while the Orioles are +140 underdogs. The total is set at 9.5 runs (O +100/U -120)
Orioles-Red Sox picks: Saturday, April 1
Injury report
Red Sox
Out: RP Garrett Whitlock RP (hip), SP James Paxton (hamstring), RP Joely Rodriguez (oblique), SP Brayan Bello (forearm), RP Wyatt Mills (eblow), SS Adalberto Mondesi (ACL), 2B Trevor Story (elbow)
Orioles
C James McCann (left oblique strain), RP Mychal Givens (left knee inflammation), RP Dillon Tate (right elbow flexor strain), SP John Means (Tommy John surgery)
Starting pitchers
Dean Kramer vs. Chris Sale
Kramer was one of Baltimore’s breakout stars last season, as the 27-year-old went 8-7 with a 3.23 ERA in 125 1/3 innings. He has a 6.85 ERA in his 23 2/3 career innings against the Red Sox. While he doesn’t have crazy velocity (17th percentile in fastball velocity), he has a strong command of the strike zone (68th percentile in walk rate), and is able to confuse batters with his changeup and curveball, as evidenced by him being in the 78th percentile in chase rate.
A seven-time All-Star, Sale is starting the second chapter of his career after three seasons impacted by injury. After having his worst season as a pro in 2019 (6-11, 4.40 ERA in 147 1/3 innings), Sale underwent Tommy John surgery in 2020, returned at the end of 2021 (3.16 in 42 2/3 innings) and then only managed to pitch 5 2/3 innings last year due to a plethora of injuries.
Over/Under pick
While this total is the highest total on today’s slate, these two teams should have no problem clearing it. While Kramer and Sale are good, neither one of them are clear-cut aces, and will likely give up some runs before their afternoon is over. And, as the season-opener proved, there are some leaks in both of these bullpens. Take the over.
Pick: Over 9.5
Moneyline pick
While Sale has a strong track record of success, he needs to prove that he still has the ability to get Major League batters out. Until then, I’m going with the offense that proved itself on Opening Day.
Pick: Orioles ML