MLB Weekend Betting Preview & Predictions: August 14th 2009

Is there a better team on the MLB betting board right now than the New York Yankees? Before you followers of the Angels, Rangers, and Dodgers start screaming about East Coast bias, consider the Yankees are an impressive 36-16 over their last 52 games. That’s almost .700 baseball, folks: Not bad when you toil in the American League East along with the Red Sox and Rays.

NY Yankees at Seattle
No one is riding higher than the Yankees (71-43, +5.92 units), who roll into the Pacific Northwest for a four-game series with the Mariners (60-54, +7.79 units) this weekend. New York has cashed nine of its last 10 games against the moneyline, including a four-game sweep of rival Boston in the Bronx last weekend. The Yanks led the BoSox by 5.5 games in the AL East heading into Thursday night’s series opener at Safeco Field, where Seattle is 6-2 in its last eight contests. The M’s have playoff designs of their own, and they could use a profitable weekend against the Yankees to make some noise in the AL Wild Card race. Seattle came into its series with the Bronx Bombers 5.5 games behind Boston, after winning three of its last four outings earlier in the week.

LA Angels at Baltimore
Oddsmakers are starting to catch up to the Angels (68-44, +23.68 units), but there’ll still be value in them when they take on the Orioles (47-67, -15.65 units) in a four-game set beginning on Friday night. Los Angeles is baseball’s most bankable wager on the scoreboard, but where it’s truly made a killing for bettors is on the over. The Halos are 66-41-5 O/U on the season, including a 7-1-1 O/U mark in their last nine games on the road. The trend might be starting to change along with more informed public perception, however, as L.A. has played above the number in only five of its last 10 ballgames. Winners of four of their last five, the Angels lead the season series with the O’s 5-1, and took both games in Baltimore back in April. Los Angeles continues to deal without cleanup hitter Torii Hunter (oblique), although his absence makes little difference at the window: The Halos are 16-6 (+9.33 units) since Hunter went on the 15-day disabled list.

Chicago White Sox at Oakland
Getting rid of both Orlando Cabrera and Jason Giambi was the best thing for the Athletics (51-63, -4.33 units). With moneyline paydays in three of four and seven of its last 10 contests, Oakland hooks up with the White Sox (58-57, +1.50 units) in a three-gamer beginning on Friday night at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. A’s backers also have the benefit of knowing their team handled the ChiSox when the clubs met at U.S. Cellular Field in June. Oakland took three of four from Chicago in the series, outscoring the White Sox 17-3 in three straight wins to end the set. Chicago shouldn’t go away as easily this time around, with Ozzie Guillen’s team only two games behind first-place Detroit in the AL Central coming into Thursday’s games. That being the case, the White Sox have dropped three of their last four contests, and are only 8-28 over their last 36 games in Oakland.

LA Dodgers at Arizona
Over in the National League, the Dodgers (69-46, +14.38 units) appear to have things turned around heading into Game 1 of their three-game tilt with the Diamondbacks (52-63, -14.13 units) on Friday night. Los Angeles had lost five of seven games heading to its three-game set earlier this week at San Francisco, but the Dodgers managed to take two of three from the rival Giants. The Dodgers get a challenge in the series opener, with Dan Haren (11-7, 2.57 ERA) taking the ball for Arizona. The D-backs are 9-3 in Haren’s last 12 starts, and there figures to be value in him on Friday night. L.A. starter Clayton Kershaw (8-6, 2.73 ERA) is going to attract plenty of action from both squares and sharps, especially considering the Dodgers are 13-3 in the last 16 meetings between the teams.