I’ve been living a charmed life betting on the NBA Conference Finals thus far. Taking the Spurs out West and the under

2007-05-30

MLB Baseball Betting

I’ve been living a charmed life betting on the NBA Conference Finals thus far. Taking the Spurs out West and the under in the East have combined for a lucrative week. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for my baseball handicapping on their off days. As I looked for a game to rebound from my recent MLB betting skid, a match up of two American League Central powerhouses caught my eye. The first-place Detroit Tigers welcome the hot-on-their heels Cleveland Indians to Comerica Park Friday night for the start of a three-game series. Detroit currently holds a slim half game lead over Cleveland for the top spot in the division. The pitching match up of Nate Robertson (4-3 with a 3.62 ERA) against Paul Byrd (4-1 mark and a 3.55 ERA) would seem to favor the Indians as Byrd is 6-2 with three complete games and a 3.04 in 13 games against the Tigers lifetime. That, plus the Tribe’s big bats are enough for me to give them the nod.

So my pick was as follows:

Indians over Tigers

Well, it’s nice to see that I haven’t totally lost my ability to win a baseball bet!! The two keys to my pick (Byrd and the Tribe’s power) actually came thru for me in this one. Byrd threw 60 strikes in 73 pitches on the way to winning his fourth straight decision and Casey Blake and Victor Martinez hit first-inning homers to lead the way to a 7-4 Indians victory.

It wasn’t easy though, as Craig Monroe hit a solo homer in the 7th that cut what had been a four run lead down to 1. Thankfully, Travis Hafner tripled in Casey Blake and Jhonny Peralta hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth to get some breathing room for Joe Borowski, who allowed a leadoff single to Sean Casey before retiring the next three hitters for his 15th save.

All and all, not a bad way to start the Memorial Day weekend.

Till next time, may all your bets be winners.

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