posted July 17, 2008 at 18:41 in MLB Betting Trends

With a majority of the league stinking it up on the road, I thought it would be interesting to see which home teams have allowed opponents to go into their own backyard and pick up much needed road success throughout the first half of the season. Take note MLB betting faithful, as this info can help you churn out a positive second half to the 2008 MLB regular season.

1) San Francisco Giants (17-28) (-$1120.00) Now, here’s a club MLB online sports betting enthusiasts have to be astounded with. The Giants currently sit 15-games under .500 at 40-55, but take a guess at what their record is on the road? If you said 23-27 you deserve a gold star! With the rest of the league struggling to win on the road, how is it that 58% of this losing ballclub’s victories have come while playing the role of visitor? That’s right folks! the Giants, in terms of overall record, are significantly better away from AT&T Park than inside it. They’ve lost seven straight home series, and their only non-series defeat came in a four-game split with the Chicago Cubs. You have to go all the way back to early May to find their last home series victory that surprisingly came against the Philadelphia Phillies. San Francisco’s turnstiles already took a hit this season when it was announced that Barry Bonds wasn’t returning, and the fact that the Giants fans haven’t witnessed a home series victory in over two months leads one to believe this club will undergo a tremendous facelift in the off-season.

2) Seattle Mariners (19-27) (-$1345.00) The Mariners lack of success throughout the first half of 2008 is entirely due to the fact that they can’t win a game at Safeco Field to save their lives. They haven’t been able to develop any consistency in winning, and that’s carried over on the road where they’re an even worse 18-31 on the year. Twenty-seven, or 47% of their 58 overall losses, have come within the not so friendly confines of their own ballpark. The M’s poor play throughout the first three months of the season already cost John McLaren his job, but the M’s only managed a 4-3 SU mark at home since his dismissal. Overall, the M’s have cost the MLB wagering public a lofty $2100.00 on the year, but 64% of that debt has been incurred with Seattle playing the role of host. Already 20-games out of first in the West, Seattle’s season looks to be over at the halfway point, but keep an eye out for this club at home the rest of the way since its almost impossible to play .413 ball the rest of the way in front of your own fans.

3) Washington Nationals (20-30) (-$1013.00) This Washington franchise has found itself listed in a number of my “Worst” articles at the break, so it should come as no surprise that they’re installed in this list as well. As stated before, when you can’t hit, can’t score, can’t pitch, and can’t play defense you’re not going to win many games in this league. They’ve managed just 36 wins in 96 tries this year (.375), and they’ve been even worse at home than on the road only because they’ve played more games in their beautiful new ballpark. To date, they’re 20-30 at home costing the few of its MLB betting backers a little more than a grand on the year. Of its 17 home series’ this season, the Nats secured series victories just five times with one of them being the first game of the year against Atlanta to kick-off the season….sad!!!

4) San Diego Padres (23-30) (-$1255.00) I don’t know what’s more depressing; the fact that San Diego was a blown call away from advancing to the playoffs last season, or the fact that they’re 21-games under .500 (37-58) and only 10-games out of first place in the NL West. Regardless, the Padres are a figment of their former selves from a year ago. Their pitching staff has been littered with injuries, and that simply doesn’t bode well for a club whose success has relied upon its arms in the past. Petco used to be a tough place to go into and win evidenced by the fact that they’re a combined 136-107 (56%) the last three seasons. Since June 20th, the Padres have won just three of their last 15 home games, and haven’t been the victor in a Petco set since the middle of June when they took two of three from the also injury-crippled Los Angeles Dodgers. Hopefully this club gets healthy soon since it still has a punchers chance of competing in what’s proven to be a poor NL West throughout the second half of the season.

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