Posted on 3/24/2008 1:15:15 PM

MLB Baseball Betting - BoSox, A’s open season in Japan

By BetUS Staff

Spring training isn’t yet over for most teams, but those doing any MLB betting this week will note that the league’s regular season gets underway on Tuesday – but with a twist. The Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics will launch the 2008 campaign over in Japan, with games on both Tuesday and Wednesday (first pitch for both is 6:05am ET).

But the Red Sox won’t have 20-game winner Josh Beckett on the mound for either of those games. The righthander has been suffering from back spasms, and the team decided that it wouldn’t be worthwhile for him to make the long trip overseas for a single start. Beckett is expected to get in a bit more work this week and be ready for next week.

However, Beckett’s absence means that Daisuke Matsuzaka will be Boston’s opening-day starter instead. Dice-K went 15-12 last season with a 4.40 ERA and 201 strikeouts in 204.2 innings of work, and he’ll be looking to improve on those numbers in his second season in the major leagues. Matsuzaka also allowed a team-high 25 home runs in ’07.

Jon Lester is then scheduled to start Game 2 for the Red Sox in Japan. The lefthander’s last regular-season outing was a memorable one – he picked up the victory in Game 4 of the World Series. Overall Lester went 4-0 with a 4.57 ERA over 12 games in his abbreviated major league season last year, with 50 strikeouts over 63 innings pitched.

The Athletics will counter Matsuzaka and Lester in Japan with probable starters Joe Blanton and Rich Harden. Blanton went 14-10 with a 3.95 ERA for the Athletics in 2007, with 140 strikeouts over 230 innings of work. Oakland was rumored to have been shopping the righthander over the winter, but he’s still with the club as they break camp.

The oft-injured Harden was limited to four starts in 2007, and the righthander went 1-2 with a 2.45 ERA on the season. However, Harden has looked good over his past two spring starts, and the team is hoping he can stay healthy and finally turn in a complete campaign. Harden made just nine starts back in 2006, and he started 19 times in 2005.

So while Harden looks healthy right now, the Athletics will be missing a few players for the two-game set in Tokyo. Third baseman Eric Chavez has a bad back, and he’s likely to start the season on the disabled list (making Jack Hannahan the team’s probable starter at the hot corner). Chavez was limited to just 90 games last season due to injury, and he batted just .240 with 15 home runs. He also missed almost 30 games in 2006.

Oakland will also be without relief pitcher Kiko Calero and starting pitcher Chad Gaudin. Calero, who made 46 appearances in 2007, is still trying to recover from a rotator cuff injury. Gaudin has a hip injury, but he hopes to be able to make his first start on April 12.

Along with Beckett, the Red Sox also have starter Curt Schilling on their injured list. The veteran righthander re-signed with the team over the winter, but a shoulder injury is expected to keep him off the mound for at least the first half of the season. Boston might also have to make due without reliever Mike Timlin, who injured a finger on Wednesday.

The Red Sox finished with a 96-66 record last season, ended up two games ahead of the New York Yankees in the American League East division, and rolled to another World Series title. The Athletics finished last season 18 games back of the Los Angeles Angels in the AL West with a 76-86 mark. Boston is currently pegged as the +250 favorite to claim the AL pennant this year, with Oakland back at +5000 odds on the list.

Check the BetUS MLB Betting lines section for all of the latest futures and props for this season.

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