Posted on 4/11/2008 7:05:11 PM

MLB Baseball Betting - Baltimore vs. Tampa Bay

By D.S Williamson

The A.L. East leading Baltimore Orioles send out Brian Burres Sunday in the third game of their series versus the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  There are already chinks in the Orioles armor.  As of this writing, Baltimore has lost their last two games versus the equally bad Texas Rangers.  Maybe, the Orioles won’t control the A.L. East much longer.  As far as Brian Burres is concerned, he has had two very good starts.  So far this season Burres has given up only 8 hits and 2 runs in 2 games.  His ERA this season is an excellent 1.29.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays counter with pitcher Jeff Niemann.  There’s nothing really to say about Niemann.  This will be his first start in Major League Baseball.  How he fares is anybody’s guess.  Maybe he’s awesome against the Orioles since they know very little about him.  Maybe he ends up being one of the worst pitchers to ever start in an MLB game.  There’s just no telling what this guy is going to do.

Here are my personal betting lines:

Baltimore Orioles
Brian Burres – L                       - 1 ½     + 130                - 145                 O  9 ½

Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Jeff Niemann – R                     + 1 ½    - 120                 + 155                U  9 ½

Because this is Jeff Niemann’s first start I do believe that Brian Burres for Baltimore will be the pitcher to have to give up the run and a half.  When it’s all said and done, Burres should dominate the Devil Rays in this instance.  Therefore, the BetUS lines should end up with Burres and the Orioles being the favorites even though they are on the road for this game.

I’m going to assume that will happen.  If it does, then really, because of Niemann’s lack of experience, there is only one wager to consider.  That’s a bet on the Devil Rays to win this game straight-up.

As good as Burres has been in two games, I just can’t believe that the Orioles will continue their domination of the A.L. East.  As I wrote above, already there appears to be chinks in this teams’ armor with the Orioles dropping their last two games versus the Texas Rangers.
Because of that I do believe that the Devil Rays have a shot in this game.  Their batting line-up really isn’t that bad and there’s no telling how Niemann will pitch.  Maybe he comes out strong and dominates.

In any case if the BetUS money-line is on the plus side for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, they are the wager.  If it is on the plus side for the Baltimore Orioles, then the Orioles are the bet.  These teams are very close in terms of talent and trying to separate them would just be foolhardy when we can receive above even money on one of them.

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