Posted on 4/8/2008 5:43:42 PM

MLB Baseball Betting Atlanta at Colorado

By Charles Jay

BetUS SportsBook MLB baseball betting odds: Colorado -115, Atlanta -105, Total 10 (Under -120, Over - Even)

The Atlanta Braves (3-3), given a good chance by a lot of sports betting people to win the National League East, will try to climb over the .500 mark on Monday night when they hook up with the Colorado Rockies (1-5), the defending NL champions, in a game that will see its first pitch at 8:35 PM ET from Coors Field in Denver.

The Braves send future Hall of Famer Tom Glavine (0-0, 1.80 ERA), a lefty, to the mound, while Colorado counters with right-hander Aaron Cook (0-1, 6.00 ERA).

At BetUS Sportsbook, Colorado is listed as a -115 favorite (Atlanta is -105), with a total of 10 runs (Under is -120, Over is even money).

Here are some of the MLB Baseball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
(NOTE: These trends also revert back to the 2007 season)

* ATL has played six of its last nine games UNDER the total
* ATL has lost five of its last six road games
* ATL has played five of its last six road games UNDER the total
* COL has lost its last five games
* COL has played five of its last seven games UNDER the total
* COL has lost its last five home games

In the HEAD-TO-HEAD baseball betting trends:

* ATL has won four of the last six meetings
* COL has won four of the last five meetings as the home team
* The last four meetings have gone OVER the total
* Seven of the last eight meetings have gone OVER the total
* The last four meetings in Denver have gone OVER the total

Tom Glavine, who got hit pretty hard at the tail end of last season as part of the overall Mets' collapse, may be responding to his return to Atlanta. The legendary left-hander and two-time Cy Young winner went into this season having given up 17 earned runs in his last 10-2/3 innings, but on Opening day at home against Pittsburgh he was moe than serviceable, giving up just one earned run in five innings of work. And that's what the Braves would love to see all season from him.

Glavine made one start against the Rockies last season and was summarily "rocked," surrendering six runs and 14 baserunners in just six innings. However, in two of his three previous outings against this opponent, he pitched complete game shutouts, allowing only THREE hits combined. So it can be safely said that if he has returned to any kind of form, he'll be a handful for Colorado.

Aaron Cook's had good control against the Braves, going 11-1/3 innings over two starts in 2007 without walking anyone. His control has in fact always been a strong suit (99 walks in 379 innings over the last two seasons), and so there is little concern about him in that regard, even though he walked three Cardinals in six innings in his first start. Cook should bounce back; he is one of the Rockies' go-to guys for sure.

But at this moment, Colorado is the lowest-scoring team in baseball (), while Atlanta is the highest-scoring team in the National League (7.4 runs per game). So Glavine appears to be more likely to get offensive support.

Until the Rockies start to show a little more offense, it may not be advisable to lay a number with them. So we'll go with Glavine and the Braves, the -105 underdog in the BetUS Major League Baseball betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY: ATLANTA

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