Posted on 4/4/2008 2:09:01 PM

MLB Baseball Betting - Chicago White Sox at Detroit

By Charles Jay

BetUS MLB betting odds: Detroit -175, Chicago +155, Total 9 (-110 each way)

The Detroit Tigers (0-3) will try to get their first win of the season on Friday afternoon when the take on the Chicago White Sox (1-2) in an American league game that will get underway at 1:05 PM ET at Comerica Park in Detroit.

Right-hander Jose Contreras will get the start for the White Sox, while Nate Robertson, a lefty, gets the assignment for Detroit.

At BetUS Sportsbook, Detroit is listed as a -175 favorite (Chicago is +155), with a total of nine runs (you will lay -110 each way).

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

(NOTE: These trends also revert back to the 2007 season)

* CHI has lost 18 of its last 25 road games

* CHI has played four of its last six road games OVER the total

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

* DET has lost five of its last six games

* DET has played four of its last six games UNDER the total

* DET has lost four of its last six home games

* DET has played four of its last six home games UNDER the total

In the HEAD-TO-HEAD baseball betting trends:

* CHI has won seven of the last 10 meetings

* Six of the last seven meetings have gone UNDER the total

* CHI has won eight of the last 11 meetings as the road team

* Four of the last five games in Detroit have gone UNDER the total

The Tigers were swept by Kansas City in the opening series, scoring just five runs in the three games. But we know this about Detroit - they compare favorably with just about any batting order in the big leagues, from top to bottom. So you see that they are hitting .206, with one run in the last 21 innings, you just know that is not going to persist.

And there's no elixir like someone you've managed to pound out pretty good the previous season. in this case the tigers get to see Jose Contreras, who, in his last four appearances against Detroit - two last season and before that, in August of '06 - gave up 26 earned runs in 23 innings. Last year Contreras had 17 losses, and a 5.57 ERA. His WHIP also ballooned from 1.27 to 1.56, so he's got something he's got to come back and prove.

Nate Robertson was so-so for the Bengals last year (9-13, 1.48 WHIP ratio), and the Tigers need for him to be dependable all year to bolster the bottom part of the rotation, which might make the difference in winning a division title. He offered encouragement along those lines, with a 3.76 ERA in September and a crisp spring in which he had a 2.79 ERA and 0.95 WHIP.

This is a big number to lay, and Detroit has some banged-up players, including Magglio Ordonez (also nicked up by Jose Canseco a little), Gary Sheffield and Curtis Granderson. they haven't gotten the bats going, but Jim Leyland is one manager who is not going to stand for this kind of thing for long.

We'll lay this price with the Tigers in what might seem like an unconventional play, but we just don't trust Contreras or the White Sox' middle-inning bullpen. It's Detroit at -175 in the BetUS Major League Baseball betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY: DETROIT

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