The Milwaukee Brewers were 10-1 favorites heading into Thursday’s action to win the National League pennant. Bargain or bust? The Brewers were only two games behind the St. Louis Cardinals (6-1) in the NL Central, but the Cards have a run differential of +25 on the season compared to –6 for Milwaukee. It’s going to take a very strong second half to get the Brew Crew into the playoffs.
This week’s Top 10 bonanza is dedicated to the man who wears No. 10 for the Baltimore Orioles, Adam Jones. He drove in Curtis Granderson with a sac fly in the eighth inning as the American League (+100) beat the National League 4-3 at Tuesday’s All-Star Game. Jones barely got any mention for his game-winning RBI; Carl Crawford made the signature play of the day in the seventh with a leaping catch to take a home run away from Brad Hawpe and win the MVP honors.
Whatever you do, don’t win that 10th game. It’s cursed.
As we mentioned last week, Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay was the first pitcher in the majors to win 10 games this year. Halladay promptly went on the DL with a strained groin.
Betting pitchers is like riding the city bus – you’ve got to know when to get on, and you’ve got to know when to get off. Some rides last only a few starts before sportsbooks adjust the betting odds, while other arms can boost your bankroll for the entire season.
Leading the American League money rankings is Los Angeles Angels righthander Matt Palmer, who is 5-0 with an ERA just over 4.00 but will likely be used out of the bullpen for the remainder of the season now that Kelvim Escobar has returned from the DL.
Sometimes we analysts make baseball betting way too complicated. We go on about obscure statistics, all sorts of day/night and home/road splits, and letdown spots. We search so hard for value that we often miss what’s right in front of us.
Take a look at this season’s MLB runline trends: Home underdogs are 144-95, good for just over 60%. Who needs to look farther than that to make some coin on baseball?
This weekend’s collection of baseball’s Top 10 goes out to Andre Dawson. The Montreal Expos retired Dawson’s No. 10 uniform in 1997; the man they call Hawk spent the first 11 of his 21 MLB seasons in Quebec before winning the National League MVP award in 1987 with the Chicago Cubs. All stats were at press time; for the latest odds, visit sports.bodog.com.
