posted June 10, 2008 at 18:40 EST in MLB Free Picks

BetUS MLB Betting Odds: Colorado -190, San Francisco +160; Total 9.5

Two lesser lights in the National League West who are starting to play better recently will get together on Tuesday night, as the San Francisco Giants (29-35) visit the Colorado Rockies (24-39) in an NL contest that will begin at 9:05 PM ET at Coors Field (natural turf) in Denver.

Southpaw Patrick Misch (0-2, 7.03 ERA) gets the start for the Giants, while the Rockies go with right-handed ace Aaron Cook (8-3, 3.17 ERA).

At BetUS online sportsbook, Colorado is listed as a -190 favorite (San Francisco is +160), with a total of 9.5 runs (the Under is -120, while the Over is even money).

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

* SF has won four of its last five games

* SF has won its last five road games

* COL has won four of its last five games

* COL has lost nine of its last 13 games

* COL has played four of its last five games UNDER the total

* COL has won four of its last six home games

* COL has played eight of its last 12 home games UNDER the total

In the HEAD-TO-HEAD sports betting trends:

* SF has won five of the last seven meetings

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

* SF has won three of the last four meetings as the road team

San Francisco is all of a sudden scoring a little more. The Giants put 22 runs across the plate in the first three games of their four-game sweep over Washington. Last night they got a solid pitching performance by Matt Cain, who gave up just one run in 6-1/3 innings. The Rockies, who went to the World Series last year and were expected to do more, followed an eight-game losing streak with a four-game winning skein, then lost the last game of their three-game set against Milwaukee.

Colorado has its best starting pitcher - and strongest All-Star candidate - on the mound in Aaron Cook. Cook has faced the Giants twice this season, shutting them out over seven innings on April 29, then giving up four runs over seven frames on May 20. In each case he has allowed ten hits. In Cook's 13 starts this season, he has yielded two earned runs or less eight times.

San Francisco has lost every one of Patrick Misch's starts this season. And one of the reasons is that he's had problems staying out of big innings. In nine of his 42 innings he has allowed two runs or more, and 28 of the 65 batters he has let reach base have scored. Yet the opposition is batting only .251 against him.

That's one of the reasons I'll give San Francisco a chance here, in addition to the fact that they are playing better ball, and the Colorado bullpen generally does not do the job; in fact, the Rockies give up more runs a game on their own home field (5.3 per contest) than anyone in the league.

We'll take the Giants at the +160 price in the BetUS Major League Baseball betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY: SAN FRANCISCO (+160)

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