Royals vs. Orioles prediction: Odds, expert picks, starting players, betting trends and stats for Game 2

Cole Ragans struck out Corbin Burnes and Bobby Witt Jr. drove in the game’s only run as the Kansas City Royals sent the Orioles to their 9th^Th Consecutive postseason loss in Game 1 of their Wild Card series. As a team, the Royals limited the Orioles to 5 hits, led by Ragans’ 6 innings of 4 hits and 8 Ks. That was Witt’s 1st^st playoff appearance and he did it with an RBI single in the 6th^Th Inning.

As a result, Seth Lugo takes over the title for KC on Wednesday and has a chance to knock the O’s out of the playoffs and advance to the Divisional Round against the Yankees. Zach Eflin starts for Baltimore.

Let’s dive into the matchup.

We have all the information and analysis you need to know before the game, including the latest on how to catch the first pitch, the scheduled pitching matchup, current team performance, player stats and of course our predictions, tips & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and our team of experts.

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Game details and how to watch Royals vs. Orioles live on Wednesday

● Date: Wednesday, October 2, 2024
● Time: 4:38 p.m. ET
● Location: Oriole Park at Camden Yards
● City: Baltimore, MD
● TV/Streaming: ESPN

Don’t miss a second of the action and stay up to date with the latest team stats and player news. Check out our daily routine MLB schedule pagealong with detailed matchup pages updated live in-game with every out.

Royals vs. Orioles odds

The latest odds from Wednesday morning:

● Money line: Kansas City Royals (+130), Baltimore Orioles (-155)
● Spread: Royals +1.5 (-165), Orioles -1.5 (+140)
● In total: 7.5

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Projected starting players for Kansas City and Baltimore – Game 2

● Pitching matchup on Tuesday (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 in 206.2 innings

○ Oriole: Eflin (10-9, 3.59 ERA) has allowed 66 earned runs and 166 hits while striking out 134 in 165.1 innings

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Top betting trends and insights to know ahead of Royals vs. Orioles – Game 2

• Zach Eflin joined the Orioles after 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, posting a record of 0-1 with a 5.17 ERA over 15.2 innings, recording 22 hits, 9 earned runs, and 15 strikeouts.
• This will be Zach Eflins 2^nd Career start after the season.
• Seth Lugo has appeared in three postseason games (all with the NY Mets). He has yet to give up an earned run in 2 innings. This will be his 1st^st Postseason start.
• 12 of the Royals’ last 15 games (80%) have been 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.

● Oriole: Hold a 54-48 all-time playoff record. Didn’t win a game in the postseason last year. 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 today’s schedule, check out our MLB Top Trends Tool on NBC Sports!

Expert picks and predictions for Royals vs. Orioles on Wednesday – Game 2

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Our model calculates predictions for every moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points such as past performance, player matchups, stadium information and weather forecasts.

Once the model is finished running, we place its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to determine a relative confidence level for each bet.

Here are the best bets our model predicts for Wednesday’s Kansas City vs. Baltimore game:

– Money line: NBC Sports is leaning toward Kansas City on the moneyline

– Spread: NBC Sports recommends a game against the Royals on the run line

– Total runs: NBC Sports recommends a game with an OVER of 7.5 total runs

Want even more best MLB bets and predictions from our team of experts and tools? Check this out Expert MLB Predictions NBC Sports page for moneyline, spread and overall picks for each of the games on today’s calendar!

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