Online MLB Betting Picks – Trust Two Aces To Shut Up And Deal
The online betting calculus in many baseball games is cloudy and murky. It can be hard to discern how a given team will perform on a given day. However, there are other kinds of games.
Next Week’s National League Betting Picks:
Florida Marlins @ New York Mets – Monday, May 16 – 7:10 PM ET
The sports betting landscape can be hard to read at times. When looking at just one baseball game out of 162, especially on a Monday (after travel over the weekend), a lot of variables can enter the equation. Moreover, a team’s bats have to scratch out enough runs to back up a strong performance by an elite starting pitcher. There will be occasions when a great start, an eight-inning, one-run game, goes for naught. The endlessly fascinating aspect of baseball is that on any night at the ballpark, longstanding trends or tendencies can fly out the window. The strength of teams lies in their ability to win two out of three games and – on a more extended level – three out of every five over the course of the regular season. There’s always a bit of adventurism involved in the one-game baseball betting plunge. One has to have a very good feel for the rhythms of teams and their expected ability to produce on a given night.
That’s why it’s really smart to put your trust in an ace, a stopper, a pitcher who can take the ball to the mound and not relinquish it unless circumstances give his manager no choice.
Josh Johnson is that kind of pitcher. Therefore, Florida has a great chance to thump the New York Mets next Monday in the Big Apple. Johnson has a microscopic 1.63 earned-run average. He went pitch for pitch with Philadelphia ace Roy Halladay earlier this week in a game the Marlins managed to win. Johnson is dealing, and as a result, opposing bats are being forced to shut up. Johnson should dominate this matchup against Mike Pelfrey, who lugs a 5.74 earned-run average into this contest. Pick Florida because the Marlins are sending a stopper against a thoroughly mediocre pitcher for the Mets.
Florida New York Mets Betting Pick: Florida
Game Number Two:
Philadelphia Phillies @ St. Louis Cardinals – Monday, May 16 – 7:10 PM ET
As MLB baseball betting experts know, Cliff Lee has been the best pitcher of the past three seasons. From 2008 through 2010, not one starting pitcher inspired more raw fear in opponents’ lineups than Lee did. The man who took ownership of the 2009 World Series and then controlled the 2010 American League playoffs for the Texas Rangers has established a standard that hasn’t been matched. Yes, Tim Lincecum got the better of Lee in the 2010 World Series when the San Francisco Giants beat Lee’s Rangers, but Lincecum struggled for prolonged portions of the 2010 regular season. Lee, who had a cup of coffee with the Seattle Mariners at the start of the 2010 campaign, has been better than anyone else in the sport with the possible exception of Roy Halladay, but Lee’s postseason prowess probably gives the southpaw a bit of an edge.
With all this as prelude, just realize this about Monday’s game in St. Louis: Because of national television (ESPN), this game will start at 6:10 p.m. local time in Missouri. Lee is hard enough to hit in agreeable conditions, but with the earlier start, Lee will pitch in dancing, slanting shadows for the first few innings. This will make it that much tougher for the Cardinals to get good swings against Lee at the plate. When one also realizes that Jake Westbrook, with an earned-run average of 5.82, will be the starting pitcher for St. Louis, it’s that much easier to take Philadelphia. Pick the Phillies, because they should score big and get a strong start from Cliff Lee.
Philadelphia St. Louis Betting Pick: Philadelphia
