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posted May 1, 2008 at 13:29 in MLB Free Picks

BetUS MLB baseball online betting odds: Cleveland -150, Seattle +130; Total 10 (Over -115, Under -105)

Teams with identical records will go at it on Thursday night, as the Seattle Mariners (13-15) square off against the Cleveland Indians (13-15) in an American League contest set to begin at 7:05 PM ET at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

Right-handers will oppose each other, as Miguel Batista of Seattle (2-3, 5.47 ERA) faces Paul Byrd (1-2, 4.85 ERA) of the Indians.

At BetUS Sportsbook, Cleveland is listed as a -150 favorite (Seattle is +130), with a total of ten runs (the Over is -115, while the Under is -105).

Here are some of the MLB Baseball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
(NOTE: These trends may also revert back to the 2007 season)

* SEA has lost five of its last seven games
* SEA has played six of its last ten games UNDER the total
* SEA has won six of its last ten road games
* CLEV has won six of its last nine games
* CLEV has lost three of its last four games
* CLEV has played seven of its last 12 games UNDER the total
* CLEV has lost six of its last ten home games

In the HEAD-TO-HEAD baseball betting trends:

* SEA has won three of the last four meetings
* CLEV has won three of the last four meetings as the home team
* Four of the last five meetings in Cleveland have gone OVER the total

The Mariners showed some offense last night, relatively speaking, reaching dominant starter Cliff Lee for three runs in six innings, but a five-run fifth by Cleveland did them in, and Seattle fell by an 8-3 score. On Thursday the M's will go with Miguel Batista, who has experienced the highs and lows of this business over the last ten days. Batista blanked the Angels over 7-2/3 innings in April 20, but could only get three outs against the A's last Friday, giving up three runs and walking five batters. He's walked 15 in 23-2/3 innings this year, which has led to a WHIP ratio that is slightly below the 2.00-mark. That basically means he is allowing an average of two runners per inning to reach base.

After a couple of rough efforts at the beginning of the season, Byrd has posted some consistent numbers. In his last 18-2/3 innings, spread over three starts, he's allowed only five earned runs. Byrd has always had pretty good control, but of the 107 batters who have stepped up to the plate against him this season, seven have homered. Byrd's two outings against the Mariners last year were kind of bizarre, in that in 10-1/3 innings, he gave up 22 hits and eleven runs, yet walked nobody.

Another oddity is that these teams are averaging exactly the same number of runs this year (4.54 per game), and are virtually equal in almost every other category. With neither pitcher qualifying for the "stopper" designation, we'll look for some runs to be scored, and go "over" the total of 10 runs as it is posted in the BetUS Major League Baseball online betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY:  OVER 10 (-115)

(Charles Jay of http://www.eBookies.com touches all the bases as a regular contributor to the BetUS Locker Room)

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