Thursday’s Best System Fits Baltimore

The return of interleague play picks up tomorrow; however before then is the matter of finishing off series within each team’s respective league. The Baltimore Orioles have been grounded since putting together a five-game winning streak at the end of May and have lost eight of last 10 games. The O’s could take a step in the right direction of ending this slump by overcoming Seattle and winning a series.

Baltimore’s troubles are easily traced to lack of hitting, as they have gotten as many as four runs only once in last 10 tries. The Orioles (25-34, -7.2 units) slump has seen them fall to ninth in batting average in the American League and 10th in runs scored. Today they will match up with a former teammate, now pitching for Seattle (29-30, -1.6 units), Garrett Olson.

The 25-year old Olson (0-1, 4.39 ERA) will be returning to Camden Yards for the first time, making his first appearance in another uniform. The left-hander gives up a lot of groundballs, which could be construed as bad luck, but most are hit with velocity and are quasi-line drives, just with a couple of bounces. Though the Orioles are far from pitching-rich, the biggest reason Olson was traded is he never developed an “out-pitch” to keep opposing batters off-balance and finish them off. This will be his fourth start and he has also come out of the bullpen six times this season, as the Mariners seek to find a role for Olson.

DiamondSportsbook.com has Baltimore as a -156 money line favorite, with total of nine. A super situation arises this evening favoring the Birds and it reads this way:

PLAY ON all favorites with money line of -125 to -175, who are below average American League hitting team (BA .265 or less), against an average starting pitcher whose ERA is between 4.70 to 5.70, playing on a Thursday.

What this 84.1 percent system is telling us is if a team is below the norm as hitters, yet can still be this heavy a favorite, they must be in a very good situation. The record of 37-7 dates back to 1997 and in the last five years, this system has clicked off 10 of 11 winners, with average margin of victory 2.6 runs.

It is true, the Orioles are impatient lot, nevertheless, the Mariners are 13-30 (-18.1 Units) against the money line vs. teams whose hitters draw three or less walks a game. After completing your afternoon wagers, the O’s might be worth a look in night action.