Posted on 4/24/2008 4:28:00 PM

MLB Online Baseball Betting - N.Y. Mets at Washington

By Charles Jay

BetUS MLB baseball betting odds: NY Mets -135, Washington +115, Total 9 (Over -115, Over -105)

The New York Mets (11-9) got a nice outing from one left-hander on Wednesday, and hope to repeat that on Thursday when they tackle the Washington Nationals (6-16), who can't seem to handle "prosperity," as this game between National League East team gets started at 7:10 PM ET at the brand-new Nationals Park.

Southpaw Oliver Perez (2-0, 2.49 ERA) gets the call for the Mets, while right-hander Shawn Hill (0-0, 7.20 ERA) tries to get untracked for the Nats.

At BetUS Sportsbook, New York is listed as a -135 favorite (Washington is +115), with a total of nine runs (the Under is -115, with the Over at -105).

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

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

* NY has won six of its last nine games

* NY has won nine of its last 15 games

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

* NY has lost six of its last nine road games

* WASH has lost 16 of its last 19 games

* WASH has lost six of its last seven home games

* WASH has played six of its last ten games UNDER the total

In the HEAD-TO-HEAD baseball betting trends:

* NY has won the last four meetings

* NY has won nine of the last 14 meetings

* Three of the last four meetings have gone UNDER the total

* Nine of the last 12 meetings have gone OVER the total

* NY has won seven of the last nine meetings as the road team

* NY has won 20 of the last 24 meetings as the road team

Johan Santana was solid for the Mets last night, allowing two runs on seven hits over seven innings. We thought we'd get cute and go with the "under" in that one, but the Mets decided to have an offensive "explosion' after scoring just ten runs in their previous four games, and sent seven men across the plate push us over the total.

Washington is still one of the worst offensive teams in the majors, and is hitting just .205 at home. So are we looking for them to bounce back against Oliver Perez, who was pretty tough for the Mets last year (15-10, 3.56 ERA) and seems to have brought some of that momentum into this season. Perez has made four starts this season. In three of those starts he has shut out the opponent over five innings or more. As far as we can actually say it in this young season, that's consistency. As such, he has been the team's most reliable starter outside of Santana.

There's not much to go on with Shawn Hill; he's faced 24 hitters and eight of them have reached base (no walks for him). last year only 29% of hitters got on base against him. So the guy is not a disaster.

But his team is, at the moment at least. Washington was outscored by over three runs per game on its last homestand, and has not gotten off to a good start in this one. Perez, by the way, has started 23 innings this season. And 21 of those have been shutout innings. He ought to be in decent shape against a team that calls one run a big inning.

Let's lay a reasonable price with the Mets, the -135 favorite in the BetUS Major League Baseball betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY: NY METS (-135)

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