Cole Ragans outdueled Corbin Burnes and Bobby Witt Jr. drove in the game’s only run as the Kansas City Royals sent the Orioles to their 9th consecutive postseason loss in Game 1 of their Wild Card series. As a staff, the Royals limited the Orioles to 5 hits led by Ragans’ 6 innings of 4-hit ball with 8 Ks. This was Witt’s 1st playoff appearance and he came through with an RBI single in the 6th inning.
As a result, Seth Lugo takes the mound for KC on Wednesday with an opportunity to knock the O’s out of the playoffs and move on to the Divisional Round against the Yankees. Zach Eflin gets the start for Baltimore.
Lets dive into the matchup.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first-pitch, projected pitching matchup, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game details & how to watch Royals vs. Orioles live Wednesday
● Date: Wednesday, October 2, 2024
● Time: 4:38 PM ET
● Site: Oriole Park at Camden Yards
● City: Baltimore, MD
● TV/Streaming: ESPN
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.
Game odds for Royals vs. Orioles
The latest odds as of Wednesday morning:
● Moneyline: Kansas City Royals (+130), Baltimore Orioles (-155)
● Spread: Royals +1.5 (-165), Orioles -1.5 (+140)
● Total: 7.5
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Probable starting pitchers for Kansas City and Baltimore - Game 2
● Tuesday’s pitching matchup (October 2): Seth Lugo vs. Zach Eflin
○ Royals: Lugo (16-9, 3.00 ERA) has allowed 69 earned runs and 177 hits while striking out 181 over 206.2 innings
○ Orioles: Eflin (10-9, 3.59 ERA) has allowed 66 earned runs and 166 hits while striking out 134 over 165.1 innings
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Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Royals vs. Orioles - Game 2
- Zach Eflin joined the Orioles following a trade from the Rays. In 9 starts with the O’s, Eflin went 5-2 with a 2.60 ERA.
- Zach Eflin has appeared in 11 playoff games compiling a record of 0-1 with a 5.17 ERA compiled over 15.2 innings giving up 22 hits and 9 earned runs while striking out 15.
- This will be Zach Eflin’s 2nd career postseason start.
- Seth Lugo has appeared in 3 postseason games (all with the NY Mets). In 2 innings he has yet to give up an earned run. This will be his 1st postseason start.
- 12 of the Royals’ last 15 games (80%) have stayed UNDER the Total
- Royals’ SS Bobby Witt Jr. went 1-4 with 1 RBI in his playoff debut.
Playoff History for Kansas City and Baltimore
● Royals: Own an all-time playoff record of 41-34. Won the American League pennant in 1980, 1985, 2014, and 2015. Won the World Series in 1985 and 2015.
● Orioles: Own a record of 54-48 all-time in the playoffs. Did not win a game last year in the postseason. Won the World Series in 1966, 1970, and 1983.
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Expert picks & predictions for Wednesday’s Royals vs. Orioles - Game 2
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Wednesday’s Kansas City vs. Baltimore game:
- Moneyline: NBC Sports is leaning towards Kansas City on the Moneyline
- Spread: NBC Sports is recommending a play on the Royals on the Run Line
- Total runs: NBC Sports is recommending a play on the OVER of 7.5 Total Runs
Want even more MLB best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert MLB Predictions page from NBC Sports for money line, spread and total picks for each of the games on today’s calendar!
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- Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
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