Posted on 4/11/2008 8:23:13 PM

MLB Baseball Betting - Milwaukee at N.Y. Mets

By Charles Jay

BetUS MLB online baseball betting odds: N.Y. Mets -125, Milwaukee +105, Total 9

The New York Mets (4-4) will look to creep over the .500 mark on Friday night when they take on the Milwaukee Brewers (6-3) in National League action that gets underway at 7:10 PM ET at Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadow.

Southpaw Manny Parra (1-0, 3.38 ERA) will take the hill for the Brewers, while the Mets will counter with righty Nelson Figueroa (0-0-, 0.00 ERA).

At BetUS Sportsbook, New York is listed as a -125 favorite (Milwaukee is +105), with a total of nine runs.

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

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

* MIL has won eight of its last 11 games

* NY has lost 10 of its last 15 games

* NY has played 16 of its last 23 games OVER the total

* NY has lost 10 of its last 13 home games

In the HEAD-TO-HEAD baseball betting trends:

* NY has won four of the last six meetings

* Twenty of the last 24 meetings have gone OVER the total

* NY has won four of the last six meetings as the home team

* Ten of the last 12 meetings in New York have gone OVER the total

Milwaukee's lefty, Manny Parra, has a reputation for throwing heat. he has averaged about a strikeout per inning throughout his professional career and threw a perfect game at the Triple-A level. He had seven K's in 5-1/3 innings against San Francisco in his first season's start. If he can keep his walks down just a little (he had a 1.41 WHIP last year) he's got a chance to be a dominant starter.

This will be a very emotional start for Nelson Figueroa. A native of Coney Island, Figueroa has not pitched in the majors for four years, and was rescued from the Mexican League by Mets GM Omar Minaya, then brought up from the minors to essentially replace Pedro Martinez in the New York rotation. He will have about 80 friends, neighbors and family members in the crowd tonight.

We really like that angle, and manager Willie Randolph thinks Figueroa's rough road back has served as a great maturation agent. And Figueroa, who has seen action with three different major league teams, says he is throwing with more velocity than ever. The Mets have the ability to reach left-handers, and have started to bounce back behind solid back-to-back efforts from John Maine and Mike Pelfrey. And there is more good news, as second baseman Luis Castillo, one of the better contact hitters in the game, could be back in the lineup as early as tonight.

We're going to go with the Mets at home, laying -125 in the BetUS Major League Baseball betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY: N.Y. METS (-125)

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