posted June 17, 2008 at 17:40 in MLB Free Picks

BetUS MLB betting odds: Atlanta -120, Texas - Even; Total 10

Two teams with identical records take the field in Arlington, TX on Tuesday night when the Atlanta Braves (35-36) visit the Texas Rangers (35-36) in an interleague betting contest that is set to begin at 8:05 PM ET at Rangers Ballpark (natural turf).

Right-hander Tim Hudson (7-4, 2.76 ERA) gets the start for the Braves, while Vicente Padilla (8-3, 3.89 ERA), also a righty, receives the assignment for the Rangers.

At BetUS online sportsbook, Atlanta is listed as a -120 sports wagering favorite (Texas is even money), with a total of ten runs (the Over is -115, while the Under is -105).

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

* ATL has lost seven of its last ten games

* ATL has played five of its last six games UNDER the total

* ATL has lost 18 of its last 24 road games

* ATL has played five of its last six road games UNDER the total

* TEX has played eleven of its last 15 games OVER the total

* TEX has played seven of its last nine home games OVER the total

In the HEAD-TO-HEAD baseball betting trends:

* ATL has won seven of the last nine meetings

* Five of the last seven meetings have gone UNDER the total

* ATL has won four of the last six meetings as the road team

* Four of the last six meetings in Arlington have gone OVER the total

The Braves had the good fortune to run up against the Los Angeles Dodgers lately, and took two out of three from them, then went to Colorado for a makeup game and scored a 7-1 win. Atlanta is still not out of the National League East race, as it is 6.5 games behind Philadelphia, and they are seven games off the lead for the wild card position. Meanwhile, Texas is seven games behind the Angels in the American League West, but blew an opportunity when it lost two of three to the Mets in this past weekend's interleague set.

Tim Hudson has actually pitched extremely well in his last four starts, yet the Braves don't have a win to show for it. Hudson has been particularly effective in his last two outings, allowing just one run on 6-2/3 hits against the Cubs last Thursday, and before that threw one-run ball at another division leader, the Phillies. But his Atlanta mates haven't provided much in the way of support, scoring just 17 runs in his last six outings. Hudson's last five starts have gone under the total, as have eight of his last ten.

Vicente Padilla has not had a difficult time getting his Texas Ranger teammates to generate offense for him; in fact, Texas has scored 54 runs for him in his last six starts. That's NINE runs a game. His last four starts have gone OVER the total. The Rangers have won seven of his last eight starts although in some of them he has not been particularly effective. Last time out he gave up four runs in six innings to the Royals but Texas won the game by an 11-5 count.

Well, the Rangers have been the AL's most productive team at home (scoring 6.1 runs a game), while winning on the road has been a problem for the Braves all season long (10-25, or 28.6%). In such circumstances, we're comfortable moving with Texas, at even money in the BetUS Major League Baseball betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY: TEXAS (Even)

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