The Orioles and Guardians play the second game of their four-game series on Friday, April 17.

Cleveland is a -143 moneyline favorite, while Baltimore is +119 on DraftKings Sportsbook. The game total is set at over/under eight runs.

Let’s get into a pick and prediction for this Orioles vs. Guardians game.

Orioles vs. Guardians prediction, preview

The Orioles had won six of seven games, seemingly finding their footing in the early portion of the season. Then, they lost two straight to the Diamondbacks, returning back to .500 heading into the weekend series. Baltimore hits the road for a four-game set against the Guardians, who have also struggled with consistency.

Cleveland is not much better, with mediocre batting and pitching. There are standout names on the roster such as Jose Ramirez, Steven Kwan and rookie Chase DeLauter, but they’re not carrying the offense enough.

The pitching is hit spotty, depending on who’s starting that day. Gavin Williams and Joey Cantillo are standouts thus far, but the rest of the rotation is unreliable. Neither of these pitchers are on the mound on Friday, putting the Guardians in danger of an offensive explosion.

Tanner Bibee is starting for the Guardians in game two of the series. He has a 6.38 ERA across four starts, pitching no further than 5.0 innings in an outing. Despite pitching the second fewest innings of the rotation, Bibee has by far the most hits allowed. Opposing teams are batting .316 against the right hander.

Despite this, the Orioles don’t have the pitching advantage. Chris Bassitt will toe the rubber for his fourth start of the season as he holds a 9.00 ERA across 11.0 innings. He hasn’t lasted more than 4.2 innings and has allowed at least six hits in each outing.

Between these two struggling pitchers, offenses may be on fire. That said, both teams have mediocre offense thus far.

Orioles vs. Guardians Pick, Best Bet

Neither of these pitchers gives me much confidence, and with that, it’s hard to bet on either team. A poor start puts a team in a hole sometimes impossible to climb out of. Rather than putting faith into either side, I’m betting against the pitching staffs.

All offense, all the time on Friday. Over. Over. Over.

Best Bet: Over eight runs (-110)

Parker Messick came so close. With three outs remaining in the game, the young southpaw had no-hit the Baltimore Orioles through eight innings. He also had only given up two free passes by walking Taylor Ward in the first and Leody Taveras in the sixth. Taveras eventually broke up the no-hit bid on the first pitch of the ninth.

Messick has dazzled for the Guardians so far this year. Until Thursday night, he had only allowed one run. That came in a solo shot allowed against the Chicago Cubs on April 5. Going into Thursday, he held a ridiculously low 0.51 ERA. He ended the no-no bid by giving up two runs in the ninth, raising his ERA to a 1.05 mark.

That number is still crazy low. Messick has been a co-ace alongside Gavin Williams for this Cleveland squad that continues to defy expectations. But Messick’s near no-no reminds MLB fans of something else.

Where Have All the No-Hitters Gone?

It feels like the no-hitter has ceased to exist, in part because it has. The last no-hitter came on a combined effort from Shota Imanaga, Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge of the Cubs. That game came on September 4 of the 2024 season. The last no-hitter pitched solo was for the San Francisco Giants with Blake Snell’s on August 2 of the same year.

There were four no-hitters in the 2024 season. Since then there have been a grand total of zero. And that’s not for lack of effort.

By far, the closest came in Los Angeles Dodgers‘ ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s 8 2/3 no-hitter against Baltimore last year. In what is arguably the greatest comeback ever, Orioles’ second baseman Jackson Holliday hit a ninth-inning, two-out home run to break it up before the O’s, down to their last out, managed to walk it off against the defending World Series champs.

There’s plenty of pitchers who could throw the next one. But no-hitters are fickle. They often come when you least expect it, and not always from who you’d expect. Take Snell. Many questioned his ability to go deeper than six innings because of his seeming inability to limit walks. But he managed to accomplish it on only 114 pitches.

Only time will tell if someone can get it done this season. Until then, the historic no-hitter drought marches on.