posted May 9, 2008 at 12:38 in MLB Articles

If you have been doing some serious MLB online betting on either the New York Yankees or the Detroit Tigers over the first five weeks of the season, you probably haven’t been happy with the results. Neither of those teams are over the .500 mark as they prepare for a big three-game sports betting series against each other this weekend at Detroit’s Comerica Park.

The Yankees are already down two hitters and two pitchers for this series, as third baseman Alex Rodriguez, catcher Jorge Posada, and starter Phil Hughes are all on the disabled list, and starter Ian Kennedy was sent to the minor leagues due to his ineffectiveness. That means New York will be trying to get past Detroit this weekend with a patchwork lineup and a couple of starting pitchers farther down the depth chart.

The first of those pitchers will be Kei Igawa, who is slated to start the series opener for New York on Friday night. The lefthander hasn’t even been that effective at Triple-A so far this season, and his numbers last year for the Yankees were terrible (2-3, 6.25 ERA, 76 hits allowed in 67 2-3 innings). New York paid a lot of money to secure Igawa’s services prior to last year, and they’re hoping to get even the tiniest bang for their buck.

The Yankees’ second fill-in starter is Darrell Rasner, and he’s projected to take the mound on Saturday. The righthander has one outing under his belt this season – and it was a pretty good one. Rasner held the Seattle Mariners to just two earned runs on five hits over six innings of work in a win last Sunday, fanning four batters and walking none.

On the hill for New York in the series finale on Sunday will be veteran Andy Pettitte, who is just 3-3 through seven starts this season but has pitched fairly well overall (3.77 ERA, 1.35 WHIP). The lefthander, though, hasn’t been able to pick up a win since April 20 against the Baltimore Orioles; he’s just 0-2 with a no-decision in his three latest outings.

The Tigers are expected to use starting pitchers Kenny Rogers, Jeremy Bonderman, and Nate Robertson, respectively, in this weekend series against the Yankees. Rogers is just 2-3 with an ugly 6.27 ERA on the season, but he hasn’t actually been tagged with a loss since April 13. The veteran lefthander is 2-0 with two no-decisions since that day.

Bonderman is just 2-3 on the season as well, but at least his ERA is only at 4.17. The righthander allowed just two earned runs in three straight starts from April 19 to April 30, but against the Boston Red Sox last time out he gave up four earned runs on seven hits over six innings of work (to take the loss). Bonderman has struck out 22, but walked 25.

Robertson’s ERA is even worse than the one sported by Rogers – he’s at 6.64 through seven starts, and his record is just 1-4. The lefthander, though, did earn that one victory against the Yankees, allowing four earned runs on seven hits over 5 2-3 innings on May 1. Robertson was knocked for a loss by the Red Sox in his most recent outing Tuesday.

The first game of this weekend’s Yankees/Tigers set will get underway at 7:05pm ET on Friday. Saturday’s game starts at 3:40pm ET, and Sunday’s first pitch is at 1:05pm ET.

Other American League sports betting series this weekend include Toronto at Cleveland, the Los Angeles Angels at Tampa Bay, Oakland at Texas, Baltimore at Kansas City, and the Chicago White Sox at Seattle. As well, the Boston Red Sox will be looking to expand their lead in the American League East with a series victory over the Minnesota Twins.

Over in the National League the top online betting set this weekend sees the Arizona Diamondbacks traveling to Chicago for three games against the Cubs. Other Senior Circuit series on tap include Atlanta at Pittsburgh, Cincinnati at the New York Mets, Florida at Washington, St. Louis at Milwaukee, Colorado at San Diego, and Philadelphia at San Francisco. As well, the Houston Astros will head to the coast to battle the L.A. Dodgers.

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

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