Up to MLB Betting Trends

posted May 9, 2008 at 15:14 in MLB Betting Trends

BetUS MLB baseball sports betting odds: Detroit -135, N.Y. Yankees +115; Total 10

The New York Yankees (18-18) will try to get over the .500-mark on Friday night when they lock horns with the Detroit Tigers (15-21) in an American League online betting game this is set to get underway at 7:05 PM ET at Comerica Park (natural turf) in Detroit.

Southpaws face off against each other, as Kei Igawa makes his first start of the season for the Yankees, while the grizzled vet Kenny Rogers (2-3, 6.26 ERA) gets the assignment for the Tigers.

At BetUS Sportsbook, Detroit is listed as a -135 favorite (New York is +115), with a posted total of ten runs.

Here are some of the MLB Baseball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* NY has won four of its last six games

* NY has played 13 of its last 19 road games UNDER the total

* DET has lost six of its last seven games

* DET has lost four of its last five home games

In the HEAD-TO-HEAD baseball betting trends:

* DET has won the last five meetings

* DET has won six of the last seven meetings as the home team

* Fifteen of the last 23 meetings in Detroit have gone UNDER the total

The Yankees committed $46 million to Japanese lefty Kei Igawa, a strikeout artist, and last year Igawa responded with a 6.25 ERA in limited duty. This season he's compiled a 3.86 ERA playing for Scranton in Triple-A ball, and with Phil Hughes going out with an injury and Ian Kennedy on his way TO Scranton, it is time for Igawa to step up. The Yanks hope he looks better than in his first spring training outing, against the University of South Florida, when he walked two, hit one, then allowed a grand slam to a player named Eric Baumann, who hadn't played college baseball for four years.

On Friday night, the former Hanshin Tiger faces a Tiger team of a different stripe - this version from the Motor City, and this crew has struggled, dropping six of seven and scoring just one run in four of those seven games. Detroit, which was considered by many to be the favorite to win the American League Central after acquiring impact players Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from the Florida Marlins, are sitting in last place, a full game behind the Kansas City Royals, who have considerably less in payroll.

One of the reasons for the Tigers' malaise is that they can't seem to stop anybody from scoring runs (5.53 runs allowed per game - last in league). Veteran Kenny Rogers has been a part of that, though he has had his bright spots. Rogers has actually done pretty well in his last couple of starts, and one of those was a six-inning stint against the Yankees on April 29 where he allowed just two runs and six hits. His previous outing against the Bronx Bombers was very successful, as he shut them out over 7-2/3 innings back in the American League playoffs in October of 2006. That was part of his 23 straight scoreless frames that took place in post-season play that year.

Until we see something better from Igawa, we won't back him. the play here is the Detroit Tigers, the -135 favorite in the BetUS Major League Baseball betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY: DETROIT (-135)

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