Up to MLB Betting Trends

posted June 23, 2008 at 16:13 in MLB Betting Trends

BetUS MLB betting odds: Colorado -115, Kansas City -105; Total 8.5

Two teams who got off to horrible starts but have been playing much better lately will get together at Kaufmann Stadium (natural turf) on Monday night, as the Kansas City Royals (33-43) will play host to the defending National League champion Colorado Rockies (32-44) in an interleague game that is set to begin at 8:10 PM ET.

Southpaw Jeff Francis (3-6, 5.22 ERA) gets the start for the Rockies, while the Royals will go with right-hander Brian Bannister (6-6, 4.81 ERA).

At BetUS online sportsbook, Colorado is listed as a -115 favorite (Kansas City is -105), with a total of 8.5 runs (the Over is -115, while the Under is -105).

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

* COL has won six of its last nine games

* COL has won 12 of its last 18 games

* COL has played seven of its last nine games UNDER the total

* COL has won four of its last five road games

* COL has played six of its last eight road games UNDER the total

* KC has won seven of its last eight games

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

* KC has won three of its last four home games

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

In the HEAD-TO-HEAD sports betting trends:

* COL has won five of the last seven meetings

* Six of the last nine meetings have gone OVER the total

Both of these teams are making great improvement, although of the two, Colorado is the one that seems more likely to make a move, since not only are they closer to the division leader (Arizona) which is not playing well, they also have shown before that can do it (remember them in the home stretch last year?).

Jeff Francis has given the Rockies some innings, but he hasn't won many games, though lately he's given them some decent efforts. Last time out he went six innings and held Cleveland to five hits and a single earned run. One other note - Francis went a full seven innings in three of his first five starts, but has only done it once since. Opposing teams are hitting .274 against Francis this season; that is actually an improvement over the .278 average from last year. And speaking of last year, Francis faced the Royals last May, giving up just one run in 7-1/3 innings in a 5-2 Rockies loss.

Brian Bannister gave the Royals plenty of reason for optimism with his hot start, as he allowed just two earned runs over 21 innings in beating Detroit, the Yankees and Minnesota. It hasn't been all downhill since then, but it's been a tough road. Bannister has allowed five runs or more in six different starts, but one of his redeeming moments came lats time out, as he allowed just two runs in seven innings against the Cardinals.

Kansas City averages just 3.88 runs per game, which is last in the American League, but the Royals have been connecting better, scoring five runs or more in seven of their last 12 games. I don't think the presence of Francis is enough to justify Colorado being the road favorite here, so we'll take Kansas City at -105 in the BetUS Major League Baseball betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY: KANSAS CITY (-105)

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