Cleveland Guardians vs. Baltimore Orioles June 5 Betting Preview

After splitting the first two games, the Cleveland Guardians (23-25) and the Baltimore Orioles (23-32) will square off in a three-game series rubber match on Sunday. The Orioles will host this one at Camden Yards, with the first pitch scheduled for 1:35 pm ET.

On Saturday, the Orioles were able to take down the Guardians 5-4. Tyler Wells threw four innings of two-run ball for the Orioles while Felix Bautista picked up the win in relief.

Offensively, the Orioles hit three home runs by Trey Mancini, Austin Hays, and Rougned Odor. Aside from these three home runs, the Orioles did little else offensively as they had only one other hit.

Jose Ramirez hit his 14th home run of the season while Andres Gimenez hit his sixth.

Betting Odds

The betting line opened with the Guardians as slight favorites to win Sunday despite playing on the road. They are -112 to win while the Orioles’ moneyline sits at +102. The runline features Baltimore +1.5 (-160).

Pitching Matchup

For the finale, Cleveland will send righty Zach Plesac to the mound. This season, he is 1-4 with a 4.93 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, and has struck out 33 in 49.1 innings. In his last start, he took a no-decision after allowing just one earned run in six innings against the Royals.

As of early Sunday morning, the Orioles had still not announced who they are starting for this contest. 

Cleveland Looks To Stay Hot Against Orioles

Despite losing on Saturday, the Guardians have played well against Baltimore recently. In fact, in their last six games against the Orioles, they are 5-1 straight up. They will look to build on that in the finale Sunday.

While Jose Ramirez is obviously the powerhouse in the lineup, Andres Gimenez has had a nice season thus far. In 133 at-bats, the second baseman is hitting .308/.331/.5526 with six home runs, 26 runs batted in, and 18 runs scored.

One area that Cleveland would like to see improvement from is their leadoff hitter. After going hitless Saturday, center fielder Myles Straw is now hitting .230/.332/.292 with no home runs, seven runs batted in, and 35 runs scored. While he has speed for days (nine stolen bases), Straw has to get on base better.

Baltimore Looks For Eighth Series Win

Even though the Orioles already sit 16 games back in the division, there have been signs of improvement out of the young club. For instance, they are currently .500 at home, and on Sunday, they will be looking for their eighth series win of the season.

Trying to lead them to a victory Sunday is an offense that ranks 24th in total runs scored (213) and 18th in home runs (50).

In the power department, it is right fielder Anthony Santander that has had the biggest season. Hitting .233/.336/.404, he leads the team in both home runs (nine) and runs batted in (30). He has also gone one for two with a home run off of Zach Plesac in his career.

Guardians Look To Finish Off Series Win

While the Guardians will hope to finish off a series win against the Orioles Sunday, they may need to lean on their offense a bit. At best, Zach Plesac has been inconsistent this season, and, at times, he has been a liability on the mound.

Luckily, Cleveland’s offense has performed well, particularly during the day. In fact, the Orioles have the third most runs scored during day games (129) and the ninth-most home runs (21).

If Plesac can keep this one competitive and the offense can pull through, it should be a happy flight for the Guardians Sunday as they head back home for their series with Rangers starting on Monday.