Looking at today's clash between the Baltimore Orioles and the Detroit Tigers, let’s begin with the mound. The Orioles have decided to send out Cade Povich for this one, who's been, let's say, enjoying the view from the struggle bus this season with a rather robust ERA of 6.18. On the flip side, his adversary Keider Montero of the Tigers is rocking a slightly more digestible ERA of 4.96. In all fairness, neither of them are exactly setting the world on fire with their performances but in this battle of who's less mediocre, Montero noses ahead.
Moving onto the cream of the crop from each team. Leading the Orioles charge this season have been Cedric Mullins —a man who seems to be having a love affair with stolen bases— and Gunnar Henderson who's got a decent batting average for someone whose name makes you think he spends most of his time yelling at clouds. For the Tigers, Zach McKinstry has been nothing short of a human highlight reel whilst Colt Keith and Parker Meadows aren't doing too shabby either.
As we take a gander at recent history between these two clubs, the Orioles seem to have taken a liking to leaving Detroit with a win. They’ve been successful in 3 of their last 5 outings there, and might I add, those Orioles boys have a knack for putting spectacular firework displays at Comerica Park. Though home-field advantage might sound nice on paper for the Tigers, it hasn't exactly translated much into their record against the Orioles.
Looking at this season, the Orioles lead the Tigers by a slim margin but a margin nonetheless. In their most recent bouts, both teams have had a mixed bag of results, so picking a favorite based on form is like picking a favorite child, you can't (or at least you shouldn't). From a strictly numbers perspective, the Orioles have been turning more W’s than the Tigers.
So, where does all of this throw us? Well, do we go with the team that has the shakier pitcher but stronger hitters, or vice-versa? Decisions, decisions. Ah, who am I kidding? If my aunt had wheels, she'd be a bike. Here goes nothing.
Albert’s Prediction: Baltimore Orioles by 2