Teams that are clearly heading in the opposite direction right now do battle in the AL East for the second game of a three game set, as the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox wage MLB betting warfare against each other on Wednesday night.
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The Red Sox hung on for an 8-5 victory on Tuesday night to stretch out their lead over Tampa Bay in the AL Wild Card race to a pair of games. Boston is currently just a game behind the New York Yankees in the AL East, while the Rays are three back.

Tampa Bay Rays (44-32, -$354) vs. Boston Red Sox (47-31, +$671)
Game Date/Time: Wednesday, June 30th, 7:10 ET
Game Location: Fenway Park, Boston, MA
TV/Radio Broadcast: Sun Sports, MASN, XM

MLB Odds: Tampa Bay Rays -103 (Matt Garza – R) vs. Boston Red Sox -117 (Daisuke Matsuzaka – R): Total Over/Under 9.5

RHP Matt Garza badly needs to return to the form that he had two years ago when he was named the MVP of the ALCS against these Red Sox in order to pitch the Rays to victory tonight. Since seeing these Red Sox back on May 26th, Garza has watched his ERA balloon from 2.37 all the way up to the 4.10 that it sits at as we speak. Yes, his 8-5 record does match his win total from a year ago and is only three shy of his 11-9 season the year that Tampa Bay went to the World Series, but Garza will be the first to tell you that these aren’t acceptable numbers. He has allowed 13 homers in his 15 starts this year, which is on a pace to destroy the 25 home runs he gave up in all of ’09. Three of those bombs came in his last start against Boston.

RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka, on the other hand, has been pitching out of his mind since that same point in May. Dice-K has only allowed six earned runs over his last 32.1 innings of work, which has dropped his ERA down to 4.50 from the 7.89 it was at in the middle of May. The righty is 2-4 with a 4.05 ERA in his career against Tampa Bay, but comes into this game with a 5-2 mark in his nine starts overall this year.

MLB Insider Tip: Tampa Bay is a woeful 20-54 in its L/74 trips to Fenway Park, and even though history is starting to right itself with that trend, there is no doubt that it is still worth noting.

It doesn’t matter how many injuries the Red Sox seem to incur. They always seem to find a way to keep firing back and winning games. Tampa Bay is clearly on the wrong side of a lot of close decisions right now, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see yet another close game go against it in Beantown on Wednesday night.
Stick with the Sox in MLB betting action on Hump Day.

My MLB Prediction: Boston Red Sox (Matsuzaka)
Source: BetUS Locker Room Featured on: Handicapperspicks.com

Our Tuesday night MLB predictions take us to Yankees Stadium where the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees will lock horns for the first time in the 2010 baseball betting season.
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The Mariners had been playing their best ball of the season winning seven of their previous 10 ball games (+$437) entering last weekend’s Interleague series with Milwaukee, but the Brew Crew ended up being inhospitable hosts taking two of three overall. The series loss was manager Don Wakamatsu’s squads eighth in a row as a visitor where they stand 11-26 costing MLB bettors upwards of $1370 on the year.

Manager Joe Girardi and the defending champs wrapped up their 2010 Interleague betting schedule in fine fashion by storming back in the 9th inning of ESPN’s Sunday night broadcast to steal a 6-4 win in extra innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The series victory was the club’s third straight and they enter Game 1 of this series an impressive 25-10 (+$635) in the house that Steinbrenner built.

Seattle Mariners (31-44, -$1448) vs. New York Yankees (47-28, +$472)
Game Date/Time: Tuesday, June 29th, 7:05 ET
Game Location: Yankees Stadium, Bronx, NY
TV/Radio Broadcast: FOX-Northwest, My9, XM

MLB Betting Odds: Seattle Mariners +1.5 -150 +140 (Cliff Lee – L) vs. New York Yankees -1.5 +130 -160 (Philip Hughes – R): Total 7.5 O +105 7.5 U -125

Cliff Lee’s 37-inning streak without issuing a walk will fully be put to the test tonight against a Yankees club that’s taken more walks (310) than any other AL team this season. That said; the lefty enters his 12th start 6-3 overall with a 2.39 ERA & 0.91 WHIP having allowed just 75 hits and 23 ER’s with a K/BB ratio of 76/4 through 86.2 total innings pitched. Each of his L/6 outings has been of the quality variety; the M’s stand 5-1 during that stretch and they’ve won seven of his 11 starts on the year. He’s a perfect 4-0 the L/4 times he opposed NY in Yankees Stadium, and in 11 career starts vs. the Yankees, he’s 6-4 with a 4.40 ERA & 1.41 WHIP.

In a move made to rest Philip Hughes’ arm to avoid wear and tear, management decided to shut him down for the L/10 days; this will be his first outing since he picked up his 10th win of the season against the New York Mets. 2010 has really been a showcase year for the righty as he stands 10-1 overall with a 3.17 ERA & 1.13 WHIP through 82.1 total innings of work. The Yankees are undefeated the seven times he’s taken to the Stadium bump this season. Hughes owns a 6-0 record in the Bronx to go along with a 3.71 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and K/BB ratio of 40/14 through 43+ innings pitched. His lone start against the Mariners came back in 2007 when he limited them to five hits and a pair of runs in the Yanks 10-2 home victory.

MLB Insider Tip: Tonight’s price on NY has more to do with the question mark that Hughes is pitching on 10 days rest than it does with the fact that he’s opposing a red hot Cliff Lee.

Honestly, it doesn’t make much of a difference to me. Getting the opportunity to play the Yanks at home at less than -200 is a steal. Yes, Lee is in very fine form but the team surrounding him hasn’t done much to impress of late or for the season for that matter.

Seattle’s a pathetic 1-8 (-$660) as a road underdog in the +125 to +150 range, while the Yanks are a $$$-making 5-1 (+$350) as a home chalk up to -175. NY’s won more than it’s lost against lefties overall (15-12), and they’ve taken 22 of the L/30 meetings between these clubs in the Bronx.

Hughes 2010 performance has NOT been a fluke! My MLB predictions for tonight’s series opener have him picking right back up where he left off t lead the Yanks to victory.

My MLB Prediction: New York Yankees (Hughes)
Source: BetUS Locker Room Featured on: Handicapperspicks.com

Best Teams To Bet The ‘Over’ On
BetUS Sportsbook is back with more MLB betting analysis for you to sink your teeth into! The ‘over’ train is continuing for the D’Backs, and check out who joins them this week.
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Season Standings
1: Arizona Diamondbacks (46-28-2) – Running into the offensively challenged Rays was the best thing that happened to the D’Backs probably all season long. The team took two out of three in the Sunshine State over the weekend, holding Tampa Bay to just seven hits in the process. RHP Edwin Jackson’s no-no was made all the more sweet by the fact that this was the team that left him out of the rotation in the playoffs in the run to the World Series and then unceremoniously traded him to Detroit the next season. Still, at +18 towards the ‘over’ on the season, Arizona isn’t leaving this list any time soon.

2: Milwaukee Brewers (39-31-5) – The Brew Crew went from a team that was challenging for the top spot in the ‘over’ power poll to one that may be falling off it any week now. Every week for the last month, Milwaukee has continued to drop towards the rest of the pack, and with just another questionable week of ‘totals’, it will finally find its way back off of this list.

3: Los Angeles Dodgers (41-33-1) – Offensively speaking, the Dodgers have had a great last four days. Yes, the team was held to one run by the Yanks to start a three game set, but aside from that, there have been 25 runs plated over the other three games. The offense is now up to 4.68 runs per game, which in theory, should be enough for a team managed by Joe Torre playing in one of the most pitcher friendly parks in the game.

Who’s Hot?
1: New York Yankees (5-1) – The Bronx Bombers took two out of three from their former skipper over the weekend and used a four run ninth inning to pull it off on Sunday night. The Yanks are starting to look like the Yanks, which is bad news for both the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays who are now firmly in a chase position in relation to the men in pinstripes.

2: Baltimore Orioles (5-1) – Someone break up the Orioles! The team has won four straight games and has all of a sudden posted eight straight of at least four runs scored. Not bad for a team that is only “up to” averaging 3.45 runs per game, eh?

3: Cleveland Indians (4-2) – Then there are the Indians… The Tribe is starting to resemble the team that had a 5.00+ ERA a season ago. Their ERA is inching closer to that point this year at 4.85, and allowing at least a touchdown on the board four times this week didn’t help matters. Both Cincinnati and Philadelphia scored at least 19 runs in three game sets this weekend, which yielded just a 1-5 SU record as well.

Best MLB Teams To Bet The ‘Under’
‘Under’ is still the word for a ton of teams on the diamond this season and there is no reason to believe that won’t continue into the dog days of summer. The MLB odds are still stacked in favor of some of the best teams in the bigs.
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Season Standings
1: St. Louis Cardinals (45-28-2) – The Redbirds ran together four straight ‘under’ games against the Royals and Blue Jays over the course of last week, which only improved their stranglehold on the top spot in the ‘under’ power poll. Still, scoring runs is an issue, as four games with three runs or less isn’t going to make manager Tony LaRussa a happy camper.

2: San Diego Padres (41-27-7) – The Pads took a major step forward this week for ‘under’ bettors, which we will discuss in just a minute. A pitching staff with a 3.02 ERA, a 1.20 WHIP, and 594 strikeouts is tops in the bigs in all three categories. That has been the reason that San Diego is atop the NL West and doesn’t look to be getting off of its perch any time in the near future.

3: Colorado Rockies (43-30-2) – The Rocks were rolling for ‘under’ MLB betting fans before this week, when the Red Sox scored 19 runs in two days and the Angels scored 17 in three days. It’s fairly clear that RHP Ubaldo Jimenez isn’t catching Bob Gibson’s 1.12 ERA any longer now that his ERA has ballooned to 1.60, but he is still the main reason that this team is 13 games over .500 to the ‘under’.

Who’s Hot?
1: Minnesota Twins (5-1) – The Twinkies haven’t played a game in which there have been more than eight runs scored since Monday. The end result has been five straight ‘under’ contests. The offense has been the real culprit here, as getting shut out twice in four days isn’t going to cut it. Going just 3-6 on this marathon road trip through the NL has been tough, but coming back home should be just the panacea to get the Twins back on track in the AL Central.

2: Kansas City Royals (5-1) – It’s not often that you talk about the Royals and good pitching in the same sentence, but that’s what we are doing today. KC has held six straight foes to four runs or less, and though they are only 3-3 in that span, the MLB odds have yielded them a nice return on their investment, particularly in a road win against RHP Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals.

3: San Diego Padres (4-1-1) – Pitching wins championships – Period! That’s what the Padres have going for them right now like no other team in the bigs. We already discussed their season accolades, but last week, the staff was exemplary. San Diego held the Fish to just three runs in as many days, while the two teams in the Sunshine State as a whole plated just 13 runs in six games. The Pads went 5-1 in those six to open up a solid lead once again in the NL West.

Source: BetUS Locker Room Featured on: Handicapperspicks.com

The Best MLB Home Teams To Wager On
Any time you can turn your home field into a little house of horrors for the opposition, you’re going to be a hero for baseball bettors. The teams you see atop these MLB betting home standings may surprise you, but BetUS has all of the information that you need to cash in while the iron is hot!
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Season Standings
1: Atlanta Braves (26-8, +$1,514) – The Braves continue to have the most impressive marks of any team at the MLB level this year. Do you realize if they keep up at this pace for the entire season that they’ll have 62 wins just at home under their belt? It is going to be very difficult to miss the postseason with 60+ victories at home, so Atlanta’s success at Turner Field is going to be paramount.

2: New York Mets (28-12, +$1,404) – It’s sad for the Mets that they don’t even have the best home mark in their own division let alone their own city. However, all of this success at Citi Field is going to save manager Jerry Manuel’s job for another season and take a lot of pressure off of GM Omar Minaya as well. The next goal that he has won’t be looking for a new man to run his dugout, but a new pitcher to help his rotation out.

3: Detroit Tigers (25-11, +$1,189) – If the Tigers are going to run down the Minnesota Twins once and for all in the AL Central, they are going to have to do so by playing well at Comerica Park. There are a ton of games to be played in the Motor City over the course of the rest of the season, and a near .700 winning percentage there is going to help matters tremendously.

Who’s Hot?
1: Boston Red Sox (5-0, +$500) – The Sox have run down the Tampa Bay Rays for second place in the AL East, and they now have their sights set on the New York Yankees. The only question is whether or not there is going to be enough left in the tank to get through the second half of the season after expending so much energy in winning streaks like this one to try to get back into the race.

2: Baltimore Orioles (4-1, +$331) – It’s about time that the fans in Baltimore had something to cheer about. The O’s have won four straight games to “improve” to 23-52. Now, instead of being on a pace to win just 43 games, the O’s are on a clip to take down 50 games. All together now: Whoop-Di-Doo!

3: Atlanta Braves (4-1, +$287) – It should come as no surprise that the Braves are once again on the list of teams that are hot at home, as it feels like they are here every single week. This time around, it was the Rays, Royals, and Tigers that felt the wrath of Turner Field to the fullest extent, though a 10-4 win by Detroit broke up a seven game winning streak in “Hotlanta” on Sunday.

The Worst Home Teams To Wager On
They say that home is where the heart is, but that just hasn’t been the case for a few teams across baseball this year. There are a lot of strong teams in this week’s “Who’s Not,” so watch out for these MLB betting squads that are killing your bankrolls!
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Season Standings
1: Tampa Bay Rays (20-19, -$1,319) – The Rays just can’t figure out how to play well at Tropicana Field right now, and the end result, at least through almost half of the season, is that they have lost their edge in the AL East and wouldn’t even be in the playoffs if they started today. Manager Joe Maddon knows that .500 ball at the Trop won’t cut it, so the second half of the season, his team has to be in search of at least 27-28 home wins.

2: Houston Astros (16-24, -$829) – Matters may only be getting worse in Houston in the weeks to come, as the carousel out of town may start to turn. Names like RHP Roy Oswalt and 1B Lance Berkman may be playing their final days out in the Lone Star State, which isn’t going to help a team that is already woeful in its own stadium.

3: Chicago Cubs (18-18, -$795) – There are certain teams that you should probably just avoid on a regular basis, and the annually overrated Cubs are one of those teams. Chicago hasn’t found any traction at Wrigley Field this year, and the newest debate is where RHP Carlos Zambrano is going to be traded to after his tirade that had him sent out of the clubhouse by manager Lou Piniella and earned him an indefinite suspension by the team.

Who’s Not?
1: New York Yankees (2-3, -$416) – This is the price that you pay for backing the Yankees on a regular basis at home. Moments like this are just bound to happen. New York lost three straight games at Yankee Stadium in its L/5 there, all three of which came at the hefty price tag of at least -190. There are going to be plenty of five game winning streaks in the Bronx, but three game slides are simply going to be killers.

2: Florida Marlins (1-4, -$405) – Congrats to the Fish for successfully hitting the self-destruct button on their 2010 campaign. They scored just three runs in as many days against the visiting Padres over the weekend and are now floating around looking for a manager after canning Fredi Gonzalez late last week.

3: Tampa Bay Rays (2-3, -$352) – The Pads are also to thank for Tampa Bay’s recent home woes, as they marched into the Trop and took two out of three from the hosts this week as well. Tampa’s bigger problem is an offense that was no hit for the third time in less than a calendar year. There is plenty of fighting in house as well, as CF BJ Upton and 3B Evan Longoria were caught getting into it in the clubhouse on Sunday.

Source: BetUS Locker Room Featured on: Handicapperspicks.com

Best Pitchers To Wager On
Trying to find the best pitchers in baseball to bet on isn’t as simple as looking at ERA, wins and losses, and WHIP all the time. Check out who tops our MLB betting list of the best arms in the bigs.
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Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado Rockies (14-1, +$1,272) – The bad news for MLB betting fans of Jimenez’s is that the days of getting good numbers on him are absolutely gone. The good news is that he just keeps on finding ways to win games, which keeps putting money in their pockets one unit at a time. His ERA ballooned up to 1.60 in his most recent start against the Red Sox, but the team just continues to win. At 13-1, 30 wins still seems like a possibility.

Mike Pelfrey, New York Mets (11-3, +$931) – Pelfrey had his first bad start last week when the Bronx Bombers knocked him around for five earned runs in seven innings of work. It was the first time that one of the top righties for the Mets was beaten in a game since May 1st. This is going to be the first time that New York has had itself a starting pitcher in the All-Star Game that hasn’t been named Johan Santana. We still aren’t totally sure that Pelfrey can keep this pace up for the whole season, but for as long as he is winning, he is worth backing.

Philip Hughes, New York Yankees (11-2, +$764) – The man that beat Pelfrey in that game last week in the Big Apple was none other than Hughes. Who would’ve thought that the best starter that the Yankees would have right around the halfway point of the season wouldn’t be named CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, AJ Burnett, or Javier Vazquez? Hughes just continues to put up consistent start after consistent start, and though his 3.17 ERA isn’t necessarily a stud type of a number at this point in the year, that consistency with New York’s lethal lineup keeps producing wins.

Carlos Silva, Chicago Cubs (10-3, +$725) – Is the window of opportunity closing on Silva and the Cubs? His hamstring is acting up right now, which has caused manager Lou Piniella to push him back a few days for his next start. After winning games for the Cubs in ten straight starts, the last two starts haven’t worked so well. Silva has been given two straight losses, even though he only allowed five earned runs in 13.0 innings. The six inning start against the Angels only took 70 pitches, but it was cut short due to that hammy.

Freddy Garcia, Chicago White Sox (9-4, +$716) – The White Sox have won nine straight games, and Garcia is a big part of the season why the team is gaining ground quickly in the AL Central standings. Since allowing seven runs to the Marlins in just 2.1 innings on May 23rd, Garcia has won five straight starts. He has thrown exactly seven innings in four of those five starts, and didn’t allow more than three runs in any of those outings.

Worst Pitchers To Wager On
Pitchers that burn holes in our pockets is just another day in the life of trying to beat the MLB odds. Here at BetUS Sportsbook, we’ve got the five worst money burning pitchers in the bigs listed for you to steer clear of in the future. Take a look at the toughest luck pitchers against the MLB odds this year.
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Zack Greinke, Kansas City Royals (3-12, -$1,111) – Poor Zack Greinke still can’t figure out how to get back on track. The oddsmakers are still burying Greinke because of his name in spite of the fact that the Royals flat out stink. The good news for last year’s AL Cy Young Award winner is that he did strike out 12 batters in a complete game victory against the Reds two starts ago, but all in all, a 3.94 ERA doesn’t warrant much in the way of special treatment, especially with a 2-8 record to boot.

Ryan Dempster, Chicago Cubs (5-10, -$897) – Theoretically speaking, Dempster deserves a heck of a lot better than what he has gotten of late from his teammates. The offense continues to fail to put runs on the board on a consistent basis. As a result, the righty has ended up with plenty of starts this year like he had on Tuesday when he allowed two runs over eight innings and lost 2-0. The righty will reach 100 strikeouts in his next start, and as long as his ERA ends up staying around the 3.56 range it sits at right now, he’ll probably get off of this list sooner than later.

Brian Matusz, Baltimore Orioles (3-12, -$801) – The young lefty for the Orioles was pitching quite well in the month of June, as he had four straight starts in which he allowed three or fewer runs. That all went up in smoke against the Marlins on Wednesday when he gave up six runs in 6.1 innings in a 7-5 defeat. Unfortunately, that was the first time since May 20th that his team had given him more than four runs of support.

Jeremy Guthrie, Baltimore Orioles (3-12, -$799) – It should come as no surprise that the Orioles have a pair of starters amongst the five worst in the game considering the fact that they are on pace to break all sorts of records for futility in baseball history. Guthrie’s 4.28 ERA would look fantastic on the Yankees, and against any reasonable team in the game, that would at least post a marginal record. However, because he is an Oriole, Guthrie is just 3-9 and things aren’t looking to get better any time soon.

Charlie Morton, Pittsburgh Pirates (1-9, -$758) – The good news for Pirates bettors is that Morton hasn’t been in the lineup. He has been on the disabled list since May 27th and probably still has a week or so until he comes back from his shoulder fatigue. You never like hearing “shoulder fatigue” on a pitcher, particularly on a bad team, and particularly on one that is playing as poorly as Pittsburgh is right now. Stay away at all costs!

Source: BetUS Locker Room Featured on: Handicapperspicks.com

The second round of the Crosstown Classic takes our MLB predictions to US Cellular Field where the White Sox will look to at the very least assure itself of a tie to bring home the inaugural “BP Crosstown Cup” – talk about bad timing!
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Regardless, the Cubs enter this series after securing a pair of finale victories at both Seattle and Anaheim to move manager Lou Piniella’s squad to a dismal 14-22 (-$927) as a visitor this season. The Cubs have been unwatchable throughout the month of June tallying a 7-12 (-$740) mark while dropping seven of their L/8 overall series.

If you were to identify the Chicago Cubs as Jerry Seinfeld, the White Sox would check in as “Bizarro Jerry” as things couldn’t be any different on the Southside right now. Manager Ozzie Guillen has currently got the Palehose playing some phenomenal baseball with the team just sweeping the Atlanta Braves out of “The Cell” to register their ninth straight win and 13th in their L/14 tries; the lone defeat coming at the hands of Ted Lilly who almost no-hit them at Wrigley 12-days ago.

Chicago Cubs (32-40, -$1722) vs. Chicago White Sox (37-34, +$72)
Game Date/Time: Friday, June 25th, 4:05 ET
Game Location: US Cellular Field, Chicago, IL
TV/Radio Broadcast: FOX – Comcast (Chicago), WGN, XM

MLB Odds: Chicago Cubs +1.5 -160 +120 (Carlos Zambrano – R) vs. Chicago White Sox -1.5 +140 -140 (Jake Peavy – R): Total 8.5 O -105 8.5 U -115

Making his fifth start since returning to the starting rotation will be Carlos Zambrano who will look to improve upon his stellar 10-1 record against the L/11 +.500 opponents he’s faced. He’s coming off his best outing since getting removed from the bullpen allowing a single ER through seven innings against the Los Angeles Angels to register his first MLB betting win at Wrigley Field since July of 2009. The Cubs have won two of his L/3 starts and he carries a 5-3 record with a 4.42 ERA & 1.31 WHIP entering the 12 th start of his career against the White Sox.

Opposing the righty will be the White Sox Jake Peavy whose tallied victories in three of his L/4 starts with one of them coming against the Cubs. He’s allowed just 15 hits and four ER’s over the course of his L/23 innings pitched, but the offenses all ranked in the bottom third of the league during that stretch. The Southsiders are only 2-4 the six times he’s led them into battle at home this season, and opponents are batting .247 against him on the year. In nine career starts vs. the Cubs, Peavy’s 6-3 with a solid 2.72 ERA & 1.26 WHIP.

MLB Insider Tip : While the Cubs have been an absolute train wreck for MLB bettors this season (-$1722), they’ve held their own against +.500 ball clubs cashing in 10 of 18 overall times (+$210). They also enter this set vengeful after the Chicago White Sox made it almost darn near impossible to beat them in their own house. While the White Sox are scorching hot, I feel they’re being asked to lay an unreasonable amount of chalk in this spot. Throughout their current nine-game winning streak, they were never asked to lay this type of price. Why ask them to now against their most hated rival? Sucker line here folks! My MLB predictions for the opener have the Cubs putting up a big fight to bust their rivals winning streak regardless of how putrid a form they enter the series in.

My MLB Prediction: Chicago Cubs (Zambrano)
Source: BetUS Locker Room Featured on: Handicapperspicks.com