Baltimore Orioles vs New York Mets

Baltimore hung onto first place in the AL East with a 9-5 victory over the Mets on Tuesday night as James McCann homered and drove in three runs against his former team. The Orioles are 37-25 on the road while New York is just 34-33 at home. Cole Irvin is scheduled to start after spending some time in the bullpen and the minors and will be expected to go four or five innings for the Orioles, who are 6-0 his past six starts as road underdogs. The Mets have lost seven of eight in Game 3 of a series. The Mets have lost six of 10 while clinging to some playoff hopes. They have lost four of the past five meetings with Baltimore and the Orioles have won 13 of 20 versus the NL East. Take the Orioles.

The 2024 season looks like it will be a photo finish for the top MLB team. There are currently six teams all separated by just a single game, which sets us up for intense run down the stretch. Baltimore is one of those teams and they lost the opener in this series, 4-3. One thing that has made the O's such a prime contender is their ability to come back after a tough road loss. The Orioles are 9-5 in this spot and I'm betting they can bounce back today. Make the play on Baltimore.

The AL top seed will be a race to the finish, with Cleveland, Baltimore, and the NY Yankees all within a half-game of the top spot. Baltimore will open a three game series in New York vs. the 64-60 NY Mets. The Mets had a defining moment that put them back in the playoff race by going 20-7 over a 27 game stretch, but that was not sustainable by this perdestrian team. The Mets have since slipped back by going 16-19 in their last 35 games, which is more represenative of their season. The Orioles have been solid on the road all season at 36-24, and I look for them to take care of business tonight in the series opener. Make the play on Baltimore.

New York has lost the first four of this road trip by a 30-11 count. The offense is 19th in runs scored, 18th in on-base percentage, 20th in slugging, and 14th in steals. The pitching has also disappointed, 18th in ERA (4.40), 21st in WHIP, and 21st in the pen (4.29 ERA). Starter Tylor Megill has a 7.99 ERA on the road where batters are hitting .345 off him and the team has lost eight of his last 12 starts. The Mets are 7-26 as an underdog, including 5-21 as a road dog, plus 9-20 after playing four or more straight road contests. Meanwhile, Baltimore is on a 9-4 run with an offense that is eighth in runs scored and Top 10 in slugging. The relief pitching is fifth in the majors (3.60 ERA) aided by a defense that is fifth in fielding percentage. The Orioles are on a 78-57 run at home and 35-13 as a favorite of -110 or higher. Play Baltimore.