MLB Games of the Week: (5-19 through 5-25)

Written by Red Coffman on May, 21st 2008 | 0 Comments

Week 8 MLB Baseball Betting Odds

After last week’s interleague extravaganza, we’re back to plain old baseball. But I have two very different games for you this week, a stunning last vs. last match-up between AL West and Central foes, and a nice first vs. first match-up between AL Central and West enemies. It should be a good one this weekend in the American League!

Seattle Mariners @ New York Yankees:
1:05pm EST: 5-24-2008

Probably Starters: Felix Hernandez (R) vs. Chien-Ming Wang (R)

Records/Recent Action: Two of the biggest money losers in baseball thus far, the Yankees (-1237) and the Mariners (-1261) are less profitable than only the Detroit Tigers and the San Diego Padres. The Mariners are 18-28 SU on the season, 7-15 on the road, 3-10 against the AL East, and a paltry 4-6 over their last 10. The Mariners finally won a series last week when they faced up against the Padres, but dang, one of them had to lose the series. The M’s rank 23rd in runs scored per game and 24th in ERA. The M’s bullpen has really struggled this season. The Yankees are 20-25 on the season, just 9-12 at home, but undefeated (3-0) against the AL West. New York is an unbelievable 13-30-1 O/U on the season while Seattle is also finishing under the total more often than not 19-24-2. New York is just 3-7 over their last 10, 1-6 over their last 7, and losers of 4 straight.

Significance: What can I say? These two guys are the aces of their respective teams, though you wouldn’t know that by looking at Felix’s 2-4 record. Even though each team will be sending their best to the mound, that’s not the main reason for the excitement here. I love the fact that both of these teams were expected to compete in their respective divisions, and both sit in last place. The Mariners are playing bad baseball, but the mighty Yankees are just two games up on them in the win column. Coming into this weekend’s series, one of these teams will be even further back.

Hot Bats: Adrian Beltre leads his team with 9 HRs while Jose Lopez, at .302, is the only Mariner with a batting average above .300 - Barry Bonds… Are you still interested in a job? Raul Ibanez leads the team with 29 RBI, Lopez is second with 24. Derek Jeter leads a pop-less lineup in New York with a .312 average. Jason Giambi’s 8 HRs lead the club, though his .204 batting average hasn’t helped much. Bobby Abreu’s 25 RBI lead the team.

LA Angels @ Chicago White Sox:
3:55pm EST: 5-24-2008 on FOX

Probably Starters: Jared Weaver (R) vs. John Danks (L)

Records/Recent Action: Both the Sox (+415) and the Angels (+332) are up money on the season, but even more significantly, both are playing well under the total. The Angels are 18-25-4 O/U while the White Sox are an even more profitable 18-26-0 O/U. Expect some runs in Chicago, sure, but don’t expect too many overs. Despite the early season under record, both offenses are still considered powerful and you might be able to get a nice run total this weekend because of it. Danks has been pitching very well while Jared Weaver has pitched much better as of late, giving up 2 runs or less in 3 of his last 5 starts, and striking out 5 or more in all but one outing. Chicago has won 6 in a row and 7 of their last 10 games overall. 6 of their last 7 contests have finished under the total. The Sox rank 5th in the league in team ERA, 4th in HRs, and 12th in runs scored. The Angels are 5-5 in their last 10, also finishing under the total in 6 of their last 7. The 1st place Angels rank 1st in the league in errors, which should afford their starting staff a lot of confidence.

Significance: The Angels are no surprise at the top of a fairly weak AL West Division, but the Chicago White Sox have stunned more than a few after smashing their way to the top spot in the Central. With 6 straight wins headed into Wednesday’s action, the White Sox have out swung and out-performed the highly acclaimed Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians, not to mention a better Kansas City Royals club. The Sox have scored more runs than anyone in the Central while they’ve allowed just 171, a much improved mark from last years’ horrendous pitching stats. The Angels are only 3 games up on Oakland in the West, but few actually expect Oakland to stick around for the season-long push. LA is winning a lot of close games, but staying consistent is the key for them. They haven’t gotten great pitching yet, but it may be coming around.

Hot Bats: Casey Kotchman was leading the team in HRs (with just 6 on the year) but he hasn’t hit one in quite some time (about a month, April 23rd) and now Mike Napoli is the leader with 10 HRs in just 89 at bats. That’s a good ratio. Kotchman has been raking lately though, going 8/18 over his last 5 contests. Casey’s 27 RBI lead the team, but he’s one of 6 starters with at least 23 RBI. A.J. Pierzynski leads the Sox with a .308 average, while little known Carlos Quentin leads basically every other offensive category, busting 12 HRs and 38 RBI in his first full season as a starter.

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