Because neither the Baltimore Orioles and San Francisco Giants will make the World Series this season — both have been effectively eliminated from playoff contention — the teams’ three games this weekend are all fans can expect for 2025, as intriguing as it would be two have the league’s only two orange-and-black teams face off in the Fall Classic.
The Orioles will travel to face the Giants for three games in the Bay Area, with the series opener starting at 10:15 p.m. ET. San Francisco will have Robbie Ray toe the rubber, while Baltimore counters with Dean Kremer.
Let’s break down this matchup with some odds and lines at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Baltimore Orioles at San Francisco Giants prediction, preview
The inconsistent Giants have been on a last-ditch run in recent weeks, winning five straight games to keep their minuscule playoff hopes alive, though they still trail the New York Mets by six games for the third National League Wild Card spot. In theory, beating the Orioles after taking two of four against the Milwaukee Brewers and all three against the Chicago Cubs should be easy, especially since Baltimore has lost seven of its last eight games. It could be a fairly low-scoring game: the Orioles have posted the league’s second-lowest OPS this month, with the Giants 12th-to-last, and both teams are under .500 in August despite having top-10 ERAs.
Kremer has an All-Star ceiling, which he proved with a two-start stretch earlier this month, combining for 15 innings of eight-hit, one-run ball, walking two and striking out 13. The issue is that the 29-year-old is equally capable of stinkers, and he’s coming off of one of them, allowing seven runs (six earned) on seven hits against the Houston Astros last Saturday. Still, advanced figures indicate that he’s gotten slightly unlucky this season, and he’s done a good job limiting hard hits, which should allow him to keep the ball within the confines of pitcher-friendly Oracle Park. He does struggle to generate either whiffs or strikeouts, but San Francisco has recorded the second-most strikeouts this month.
The Giants should feel good about picking up their sixth straight win with Ray on the mound. The veteran southpaw earned his second All-Star appearance — although he deserved to have another in 2021, when he won the AL Cy Young Award — and has still been solid in his first seven starts of the second half, pitching to a 3.76 ERA as San Francisco has gone 4-3. Overall, advanced stats are kind to Ray, as he ranks in the 86th percentile in pitching run value and his four-seam fastball has been baseball’s 15th-most valuable pitch this season. He’s been especially sharp at Oracle Park, and Baltimore has had the league’s fourth-worst road OPS in the league this season. The Orioles, who have recorded the league’s fourth-highest average exit velocity this season, will need to take hope their hard hits find grass against what has been the league’s fifth-worst fielding unit.
Baltimore Orioles at San Francisco Giants pick, best bet
Best Bet: Under 7.5 (-112)
7.5 is a really low line, but each of Baltimore’s last five games have gone under the total and three of the Giants’ last five have. I’m not sure what version of Kremer will show up, but the Orioles have scored three or fewer runs in each of the last five games and will now face a strong hurler in a pitcher’s park.
Strong Lean: Dylan Carlson 1+ Walks (Batter) (+165)
Ray leads all National League pitchers with 61 walks, the second time he’s led the league in that category, and while some of it is a matter of volume, his 9.4% walk rate ranks in just the 28th percentile league-wide. Carlson doesn’t walk frequently — no Baltimore player does — but he’s drawn one in four of his last five games.
