Baseball Picks -- Betting on the Second-Half
Written by Kevin Taylor
Sat, 18 Jul 2009
Category sportsbook
Feedback Rating - no votes
The AL will once again enjoy home field advantage in the World Series, as they did what they always do: beat the National League in the 2009 All-Star game.
That ran the AL record to 12-0-1 in the last 13 years.
But the break is over, so back at it bettors, it’s time to hit the books again, check box scores, cruise the baseball odds pages a few times every morning and make your notes.
The stretch drive is about to begin with the good teams separating themselves from the pack in the search for division titles and Wild Card berths. This is when things get very interesting, both from a fan perspective and for the sports betting public.
The Boston Red Sox begin the second half of the season as the top team in the AL East with the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays in hot pursuit.
Boston begins a series on the road against the Toronto Blue Jays. Online sportsbook SPORTSBETTING.com has the BoSox listed listed as +110 underdogs for the opener.
The BoSox have been hit or miss in their last 20 games at the Rogers Centre, going 10-10 SU.
It will be Clay Buchholz’s turn in the Red Sox’s rotation and in his last 11 road starts, Boston has suffered with a record of 1-10 SU and a mark of 8-3 on the Over/Under.
Boston is also 0-2 the last two times Buchholz has started on the road against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The San Francisco Giants begin their second-half journey tonight as they start a three-game road set against the Pittsburgh Pirates—the Giants are listed as -155 road faves and the Total is set at 7.5.
Overall, the Giants have struggled against the Pirates going 5-15 straight up in their last 20 meetings.
San Francisco hasn’t done all that well when playing the Pirates on the road either, going 2-7 SU in its last nine games in Steel Town and 10-10 SU in its last 20 games.
However, in tonight’s opener, the Giants will start Tim Lincecum, who started the All-Star game earlier in the week.
In Lincecum’s last 20 starts, the Giants have gone 13-7 SU and more recently, Lincecum’s last nine starts have yielded a 7-2 record SU for San Francisco.
The Philadelphia Phillies started off the second half of their season yesterday, defeating the Florida Marlins on the road by a final of 4-0 and will play the second of four games tonight with the defending champs listed at -125 and the Total set at 9.
In the Phillies’ last nine games against the Marlins, they have gone 7-2 SU and in the last six trips to Florida, Philadelphia is on a 6-0 SU run.
Last year’s World Series MVP Cole Hamels will take the mound for Philadelphia and while his last 20 starts have earned the Phillies a 12-8 record SU, the last six times Hamels has taken the mound, his team has gone 2-4 SU.
The Phillies are even colder when Hamels starts in Florida as his last four road starts against the Marlins have resulted in an 0-4 record SU and an 0-4 record on the Over/Under.
The divisional races in the MLB are about to heat up and the baseball is about to get intense.
link: http://www.wheretobet.com/redirect/sportsbetting.com-205/all