Just about every baseball season, a storyline emerges about a team that’s having a remarkable turnaround from the previous year. The plot is familiar.
One season, some hapless franchise is languishing in the cellar of its division and by the next All-Star break, lo and behold, they’re scrapping for a Wild Card berth and, who knows, a shot at a pennant and a World Series.
As familiar as that script can be, the 2023 Baltimore Orioles are taking the chumps-to-champs journey to dizzying heights for themselves and backers at Maryland sports betting operators.
Orioles Lead American League East
For starters, the Orioles are 70-42 (their next game is Tuesday at home against Houston to start a three-game set), and in first place in the American League East with the best record in the AL. This comes after Baltimore lost 110 games in 2021, 108 games in 2019 and 115 games in 2018.
And then there’s a bit of research esoterica that speaks volumes in its own right.
In the history of Major League Baseball, the Orioles now have the fourth-longest streak for not being swept in a series of two-plus games.
Those using the best Maryland sportsbook promo codes can get odds between -154 and -180 for the team to win their first AL East title since 2014.
The O’s haven’t been swept in 75 consecutive series of two or more games, a streak dating to early in the 2022 season. To emphasize the historic breadth of the achievement, Baltimore recently passed the 1904-06 Philadelphia Athletics, who ran such a string for 74 series.
The next target on the list is the 1922-24 New York Yankees (83 series). The teams further ahead are also from the relatively distant past, the 1903-05 New Giants (106 series) and 1942-44 St. Louis Cardinals (125).
This research comes from MLB.com researcher and journalist extraordinaire Sarah Langs. By now many baseball followers are familiar with Langs’ diagnosis of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and her humble perseverance. She continues to contribute to fans’ understanding of the game through her in-depth examination of baseball statistics, both historic and contemporary.
Avoiding Losing Streaks Is Crucial
What the Orioles’ accomplishment indicates is a resilience in avoiding long losing streaks. For instance, this season, the longest Baltimore losing streak is just four games. It happened once. They had a three-game losing streak, and it also happened just once.
Much has been made about the overlap that exists between the Orioles calling up former No. 1 draft pick catcher Adley Rutschman in May 2022 and their overall turnaround. Well, the no-swept series streak is yet another overlapping statistic with the young star joining the Orioles.
Other statistical highlights of Baltimore’s turnaround, as it applies at the best sports betting app Maryland options, is that the Orioles were the runaway reader in moneyline earnings in 2022 at plus-$2,717, based on a standard $100 wager (Cleveland was second at plus-$1,805). This season, despite higher expectations, the Orioles are on track to better their 2022 mark at plus-$2,450 in moneyline earnings so far this season.
Baltimore Orioles World Series Odds
So, viewing the avoidance of series sweeps of two-plus games through the lens of sports wagering, the Orioles’ consistency has greatly reduced the daily volatility for Orioles bettors who are riding with the team game after game.
Looking ahead to the postseason and the Word Series, the Orioles entered Monday with +1100 World Series odds for customers using the BetMGM bonus code Maryland. When the season began, the O’s were +3500. The shortest odds for the World Series are on the Atlanta Braves (+310 to +330, depending on the sportsbook) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (+420 to +500).
