posted May 23, 2008 at 13:37 in MLB Betting Trends

Before the season began you would have guessed that the two New York teams would have more combined sports betting victories than the two Florida teams heading into the Memorial Day weekend – but you would have been wrong. Anyone who has been doing MLB betting this season knows that the Rays and Marlins have both exceeded online sports betting expectations.

And both of those teams will be looking to stay in the thick of their respective division races with sports gambling series wins this weekend. The Rays will play host to the Baltimore Orioles starting on Friday night, while the Marlins will get a visit from the San Francisco Giants.

Tampa Bay is likely to send Matt Garza, Edwin Jackson, and James Shields to the mound over the weekend, which means the Orioles get to miss both Scott Kazmir and Andy Sonnanstine. Kazmir has been stellar for the Rays since coming off the disabled list (a 3-1 record with a tiny 1.57 ERA), while Sonnanstine is leading Tampa Bay in wins.

Still, the trio of Garza, Jackson, and Shields has been effective this season as well – giving the Rays an unusually-strong (for them) rotation. Garza is 2-1 with a 4.86 ERA on the season, but he’s only allowed more than three earned runs in two of seven outings. Jackson has given up just one earned run over his last three starts (all no-decisions), dropping his ERA to 3.29. Shields has a 4-3 record with a solid ERA of 3.38 this season.

Where the Rays have some concerns is at the plate. Carlos Pena is still hitting home runs, but his batting average is in the tank. Rookie Evan Longoria is just now getting out of a bad slump, and Carl Crawford hasn’t been putting up superstar numbers this year. Tampa Bay will be looking for some consistency in the batter’s box as they make their run.

The Marlins don’t have as much quality starting pitching as the Rays, but it looks like the Giants will see their two top guns in their weekend series. Scott Olsen and Mark Hendrickson are projected to pitch the opening and closing contests of the three-game set, with rookie Burke Badenhop sandwiched between those two for Saturday’s meeting.

Olsen had a 5.81 ERA for Florida last season, but this year he’s got that number down to 2.82 to go along with a 4-1 record. Walks have been an issue for the lefthander though – he’s issued 26 free passes and fanned just 27 in nine starts. Hendrickson is at 6-2 with a 3.72 ERA in 2008, and he’s allowed three or fewer earned runs in eight of his 10 starts. Badenhop has just one win this season (1-3), and his ERA is now up to 6.75.

That means Florida will be looking to generate some offense in his start on Saturday – something second baseman Dan Uggla and shortstop Hanley Ramirez have been doing on a consistent basis. Outfielder Jeremy Hermida has also been productive this month as the Marlins try to stay with the likes of the Braves, Phillies, and Mets in their division.

As for those underachieving New York clubs, they’ll get to take on some teams in worse shape than them over this holiday weekend so get those wagers in on the online sportsbook. The Yankees will play host to the Seattle Mariners, who are languishing in the basement of the American League West division. The Mets will travel to Colorado to take on a Rockies team that is now well below .500.

Other series around the major leagues for online wagering this weekend include Minnesota at Detroit, Texas at Cleveland, the Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh, Kansas City at Toronto, Milwaukee at Washington, Philadelphia at Houston, the Los Angeles Angels at the Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati at San Diego, and St. Louis at the Los Angeles Dodgers. As well, the Arizona Diamondbacks will be in Atlanta, and the Boston Red Sox will play in Oakland.

Check the BetUS MLB lines section for all of the latest odds and totals for this weekend.

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