Cleveland Indians vs. Baltimore Orioles Series Preview: Schedule, Match Ups, Odds

This week features an American League battle of East versus Central as the Baltimore Orioles (22-42) take on the Cleveland Indians (34-28). The Indians will host this four-game series at Progressive Field starting on Monday.

The Indians are coming off of a series win over the Seattle Mariners over the weekend, although they did drop the finale Sunday, 6-2. In the loss, Shane Bieber gave up an uncharacteristic five runs on ten hits in just 5.2 innings. The Indians’ offense could only muster the two runs on five hits.

The Orioles had even less success as they were swept by the A.L. East-leading Tampa Bay Rays in their three-game series. The Orioles have now lost four in a row and are just 5-5 in their last ten games.

Schedule

The Schedule for the three-game series at the Great American Ballpark is as follows:

• Monday, June 14 – 7:10 pm ET
• Tuesday, June 15 – 7:10 pm ET
• Wednesday, June 16 – 7:10 pm ET
• Thursday, June 17 - 1:10 pm ET

Pitching Matchup

Here is the pitching matchup for each game of the series:

• Monday: TBD vs. Jean Carlos Mejia (1-1, 4.15 ERA)
• Tuesday: Matt Harvey (3-7, 7.41 ERA) vs. Cal Quantrill (0-2, 3.21 ERA)
• Wednesday: Keegan Akin (0-1, 4.13 ERA) vs. Aaron Civale (9-2, 3.17 ERA)
• Thursday: Jorge Lopez (2-7, 5.64 ERA) vs. TBD

Looking At Odds

Now 5.5 games back in the division, the Cleveland Indians are +410 to win the A.L. Central. The Orioles are +30000 to win the A.L. East.

In terms of winning the World Series, the Indians are +4000 to do so while the Baltimore Orioles are once again +30000.

By The Numbers

Offensively, these two teams are pretty similar. The Indians rank 20th in scoring averaging 4.18 runs per game. The Orioles are 21st in the majors averaging 4.08 runs per game.

Defensively, the advantage is a little bigger for Cleveland. They rank 13th in runs allowed per game at 4.25. The Orioles fall to 25th, allowing opponents 5.06 runs per game.

Orioles Looking For Some Positives In Otherwise Lost Season

At 22-42 and 19 games back in the divisional race, the Baltimore Orioles are essentially out of the postseason conversation with almost a month until the All-Star game. Still, the Orioles are looking for positives out of their youngsters and are hoping to trade some of their veterans for future assets as the trade deadline approaches.

Unfortunately for Orioles’ fans, they have been brutal both at home and on the road. In fact, they have an identical 11-21 record in both situations.

Leading the way offensively for Baltimore is a first baseman, Trey Mancini. One of the most heartwarming stories of the season, Mancini is hitting .272/.354/.483 with a team-leading 12 home runs, 47 runs batted in, and is tied for the team lead in runs scored with 34 after battling cancer last season.

Indians Look To Play Catch Up In Division

While the Indians are 34-28 overall, they are trying to catch one of the hottest teams in baseball in the Chicago White Sox (41-24), who are leading the division by 5.5 games.

With a struggling Baltimore Orioles team coming into town, the Indians will try to take advantage and pick up some wins.

The Indians have been led thus far by third baseman Jose Ramirez. On the season, he is hitting .270/.355/.532 with a team-leading 14 home runs36 runs batted in, and 43 runs scored.

Over the last week, first baseman Bobby Bradley has been one of the Indians’ best hitters. In that span, he is hitting .308/.400/.538 with a home run and four runs batted in.

Indians Need To Win Series, If Not Sweep

Frankly, the Baltimore Orioles are the worst team in the American League and one of the worst teams in all of baseball. With the Indians fighting to stay in contention, this is a series where three of four would be great, but a sweep would be even better.

Granted, it is hard to bank on a sweep in the major leagues, but even with Shane Bieber not pitching in this series, the Indians should have the pitching advantage in just about every game.

5.5 games is not insurmountable in the A.L. Central, but to do so, this is the type of series that Cleveland needs to make up ground with.