posted June 6, 2008 at 14:35 in MLB Free Picks

BetUS MLB betting odds: Boston -150, Seattle +130; Total 9

Two teams going in opposite directions will meet up on Friday night when the Boston Red Sox (38-25) play host to the Seattle Mariners (21-39) in an American League sports betting game that is set to begin at 7:05 PM ET at Fenway Park in Boston.

Right-handers go at it, as Felix Hernandez (3-5, 3.29 ERA) of the Mariners opposes Bartolo Colon (3-0, 3.50 ERA) of the Red Sox.

At BetUS online sportsbook, Boston is listed as a -150 favorite (Seattle is +130), with a total of nine runs (the Under is -115, while the Over is -105).

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

* SEA has lost five of its last six games

* SEA has played four of its last six games OVER the total

* SEA has lost its last six road games

* SEA has played its last six road games OVER the total

* BOS has won six of its last seven games

* BOS has won its last 13 home games

In the HEAD-TO-HEAD baseball betting trends:

* SEA has won 12 of the last 17 meetings

* Four of the last five meetings have gone UNDER the total

* BOS has won four of the last five meetings as the home team

The Red Sox are sitting at 38-25, a game and a half ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays, after sweeping them three straight at Fenway Park this week. Last night's game, a 7-1 win, was highlighted by a Manny Ramirez home run, and low-lighted by a couple of brawls - one that happened after Tampa Bay pitcher James Shields hit Coco Crisp with a pitch in the second inning, and another when Ramirez traded blows with first baseman Keith Youkilis, his teammate, in the Red Sox dugout. Things will not be boring in Beantown this summer.

Boston is 24-5 as the home team this season. And on has to wonder whether this Seattle team, which has lost six road games in a row and for most of the season cannot seem to get out of its own way, is going to stop them. The M's will do their best, sending Felix Hernandez to the mound, and he is coming off perhaps his best outing of the season, shutting the Tigers out over seven innings on just two hits on May 31, striking out seven Detroit hitters and allowing no one to reach on a free pass. Hernandez began the season throwing 15 straight scoreless innings over two starts, and it looks like he may be recapturing that form now.

Boston sends Bartolo Colon to the mound, and if he continues as he has been, this is going to be a big bonus for the defending world champions. Colon, the 2005 AL Cy Young winner, is 146-95 lifetime, although he did go off the radar screen when he suffered rotator cuff problems for the Angels in 2006. He signed a minor league deal with Boston this spring, and has won all three of his decisions, including a stirring performance against Seattle, giving up just one run in seven innings on May 26.

We're going to bypass a play on the side here and instead look at the total. And you have to look at Hernandez's record, which shows that his last nine starts have all gone under the total. We will move UNDER the nine runs in the BetUS Major League Baseball betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY: UNDER 9 (-115)

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