Posted on 4/14/2008 7:10:58 PM

MLB Baseball Betting - Arizona at San Francisco

By Charles Jay

BetUS MLB betting odds: Arizona -140, San Francisco +120, Total 8 (Under -120, Over - Even)

The red-hot Arizona Diamondbacks (9-3) will try to win their nine games in 11 outings on Monday when they send one of the best pitchers of recent times to the hill against the San Francisco Giants (5-8) in a National League game that is slated to begin at 10:15 PM ET at AT&T Park (natural turf) in San Francisco, and which is being offered free of charge to fans who log onto the Diamondbacks' website at dbacks.com.

Why such a special offering? Because southpaw Randy Johnson will make his first start of the season for the D-Backs, while lefty Jonathan Sanchez (0-1, 6.30 ERA) gets the call for the Giants.

At BetUS Sportsbook, Arizona is listed as a -140 favorite (San Francisco is +120), with a total of eight runs (Under is -120, the Over is even money).

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

* ARIZ has won nine of its last ten games

* ARIZ has won its last three road games

* ARIZ has played five of its last six games OVER the total

* SF has won four of its last six games

* SF has played its last three games OVER the total

* SF has played four of its last seven home games OVER the total

In the HEAD-TO-HEAD baseball betting trends:

* ARIZ has won four of the last six meetings

* Three of the last four meetings have gone OVER the total

* SF has won three of the last four meetings as the home team

* Four of the last six meetings in San Francisco have gone UNDER the total

Has San Francisco started to put its hitting on all of a sudden? The Giants, who were averaging less than two and a half runs per game, have tallied seven runs in back-to-back contests, giving their young ace Tim Lincecum, who went six innings and gave up just two runs, plenty of support on Sunday, when they broke Arizona's eight-game winning streak.

Most people, however, don't see that kind of offense persisting. The Giants are, of course, without Barry Bonds this year, and that takes away a guy who was on base all the time. And now here's a team that has put barely ten runners on base this season.

Randy Johnson gets the start on Monday for this sizzling 'Zona squad. And even though the left-handed future Hall of Famer is at the end of the road, he did manage to put in two solid performances against Frisco last year, giving up just four runs in 12 innings, striking out 13. This is his first start in almost ten months, and he is coming off rehab for a back ailment. To a certain extent he is an unknown commodity, although manager Bob Melvin won't necessarily have the pitch count on for him. But he is healthy, and threw 85 pitches in a rehab start at Triple-A Tucson, where he got to 92 mph on the radar gun.

Fred Lewis has done well since being inserted into the leadoff spot in the Giants' order, but this is a team where injuries have thinned out the bench. Meanwhile, Jonathan Sanchez was banged around pretty good against Arizona last year, giving up seven runs and fourteen runners in four innings. But he offered a lot of encouragement in his last outing, striking out ten and allowing three hits in six scoreless innings against San Diego on Wednesday. Sanchez is supposed to have unlimited potential, and indeed has been blowing the ball by hitters (18 K's in ten innings). If they just let him pitch, he might be just fine.

We'll go against Johnson until we see him at least once. Let's show some faith in Sanchez, an overpowering pitcher who is a +120 underdog in the BetUS Major League Baseball betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY: SAN FRANCISCO (+120)

Go to the BetUS sportsbook today and take a swing at Major League Baseball online betting. We have the most current baseball odds and lines, as well as player, game and series props throughout the MLB baseball season. To help you bet on sports, check out the Free Picks section of the Locker Room for sports betting free picks and predictions. Join BetUS to experience the best in online sports betting action!

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