The Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox will battle it out one more time on Thursday night at Fenway Park in Game 3 of this AL East clash. This contest is set to get underway at 7:10 p.m. (ET), and the game will be broadcast nationally on the MLB Network.

The Orioles took it on the chin in Tuesday’s opener by the score of 13-2 as +114 road underdogs, and the prospect for tying this series does not look too good as +159 underdogs for Wednesday night’s contest. They now trail the Red Sox by 6.5 games in the division with an overall record of 70-60.

Tuesday night’s win coupled with a Tampa Bay loss to the Angels has Boston holding a 2.5-game lead over the Rays in the AL East. The Red Sox have gone 6-4 in their last 10 games to improve to 78-55 overall. They are 41-23 at Fenway this season.

Orioles at Red Sox Betting Storylines

It has been a mixed bag at the plate lately for Baltimore. It pounded out 20 runs in last weekend’s three-game series against Oakland, but it has scored four or less runs in six of its previous eight games. Overall the Orioles are still ranked third in the American League in scoring with an average of 4.8 runs a game. Chris Davis has led the way all season long with a team-high 118 RBI and 46 home runs, which ranks him near or at the top of the Majors in those categories as well.

Pitching has been hit or miss as well down the stretch, and as a result the Orioles are now ranked No. 11 in the AL with a team ERA of 4.32. They will send Chris Tillman to the mound as their starter for Thursday’s game. The right-hander is coming off a solid outing this past Saturday in which he held the Athletics to just one run on three hits while tying a career-high strikeout record with nine. Tillman is 14-4 on the year with a 3.66 ERA, and he has a 3-1 lifetime record against Boston with an ERA of 2.08.

There is no power shortage in Boston’s lineup as it continues to pound out a MLB-high 5.1 runs a game, including a total of 52 runs in its last eight games. At the center of it all is David Ortiz with a team-high 79 RBI and 24 home runs, but it has been a total team effort this season with nine different players boasting 40 or more RBI. Shane Victorino was the big bat in Tuesday night’s win with two home runs and seven RBI.

The Red Sox will go with Jon Lester as their starter for the series finale. He is 12-7 on the year with a 3.97 ERA and in his best form of the year. The left-hander has given up just one run in his last 15 plus innings of work, and has not allowed more than three earned runs in eight of his last 10 starts. Lester has owned the Orioles over the years with a 15-2 record and 2.72 ERA.

Orioles at Red Sox MLB Betting Odds and Trends

BetOnline has opened the Orioles as +145 road underdogs for Thursday night’s series finale with Boston listed as a -155 home favorite. The total has been set at 9.

The Orioles are 1-5 in their last six road games, and the total has gone “over” in eight of their last 11 games overall.

The Red Sox are 7-3 in their last 10 games at home, and the total has gone over in six of their last nine home games.

Head-to-head, Baltimore has lost four of the last six games of this season’s series, but it is still 11-4 in its last 15 road games against Boston. The total has stayed “under” in six of the last nine meetings at Fenway.

Baseball Picks: Orioles at Red Sox MLB Betting Predictions

The Red Sox set the early tone in this series with Tuesday night’s romp, and with Lester on the mound they are poised to claim the back-end of this series with another victory on Thursday night. Expect another excellent combination of pitching and hitting as Boston continues to shoot holes in the Orioles’ playoff plans.

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