With neither club out of the Wild Card race in a wide-open American League, the Baltimore Orioles and the Detroit Tigers will kick off a three-game series Monday night at Comerica Park.
The Orioles (51–55, 4th AL East) have gone 12–7 since the beginning of July and sit 2.5 games out of a Wild Card spot. The Tigers (50–56, 4th AL Central) have gone 13–7 this month and are 3.5 games back.
The teams first crossed paths in Baltimore near the end of May, when the Orioles took two of three games.
Looking at the pitching probables, we’ve got Baltimore right-hander Kyle Bradish (7–9, 3.49 ERA) taking on Detroit righty Keider Montero (7–5, 3.14 ERA).
First pitch is at 6:40 p.m. ET. The Tigers enter as slight -120 favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook, while the Orioles hold -101 odds on the moneyline. The game total is set at O/U 8.5 runs.
Orioles vs. Tigers Preview
Baltimore Orioles
The Orioles aren’t sniffing the top seed in the American League East, though they’re not completely out of the playoff conversation thanks to a strong July. Despite dropping four of their last six contests, they have posted an impressive 12–7 record this month — fourth-best in MLB — and sit just 2.5 games back from the final Wild Card spot.
Baltimore’s otherwise middling offense has started heating up, ranking seventh league-wide in wRC+, 12th in wOBA, and second in xwOBA during this stretch. Star slugger Pete Alonso has gone 8-for-27 (.296) over his last two series and crushed his 22nd homer of the year in Sunday’s finale against the Braves. However, the last few weeks saw key contributors Adley Rutschman, Blaze Alexander, and Samuel Basallo all land on the 10-day injured list.
Even so, the root cause for the team’s recent success has come on the mound. The Orioles’ pitching staff has been lights-out since the beginning of July, leading MLB with a 2.71 ERA. Monday’s starter, Kyle Bradish, has played a pivotal role in that turnaround, posting a 2.21 ERA across three starts this month — going at least six innings in each of them. In his last start, the 29-year-old right-hander held the red-hot Red Sox to one run over six frames to halt their historic 15-game winning streak.
Detroit Tigers
Like Baltimore, Detroit finds itself on the playoff bubble amid an impressive summer surge. The Tigers have gone 13–7 since the calendar flipped to July, second-best in MLB behind the nearly unassailable Red Sox (17–3). Now just 3.5 games out of the AL Wild Card, the front office will certainly have some tough decisions to make before next week’s trade deadline.
But until then, Detroit’s offense has remained mediocre, albeit unlucky, over the last month. While the All-Star trio of Riley Greene, Kevin McGonigle, and Dillon Dingler — who boasts a .957 OPS this month — make for a formidable core, the largely pedestrian Tigers lineup ranks 20th in wRC+, 21st in wOBA, and 10th in xwOBA in July.
But the pitching has been an entirely different story. Detroit is home to one of the top pitching staffs in the majors and places third with a 2.95 ERA since the start of July. The starting rotation — headlined by reigning back-to-back AL Cy Young Tarik Skubal — has been the best in baseball during that stretch (2.86 ERA). Monday’s starter, Keider Montero, has been an absolute beast this month, holding a 1.96 ERA across six appearances (18.1 IP). The 26-year-old right-hander, who ranks fifth in MLB in WHIP (0.96), confined the Cubs to one run over 5.1 frames while piling up eight strikeouts in his last start on July 22.
Orioles vs. Tigers Pick, Best Bet
It would be difficult to bet against either of these pitching staffs right now, let alone both of them. The Orioles and the Tigers head into their second series of 2026 with some of the hottest arms on the planet, now facing offenses that are either hampered by injuries or largely unremarkable. Monday’s series opener in Motor City should be a low-scoring affair.
