MLB Betting Insider - Hottest ‘Under’ Teams
by Mike Rose
The dog days of summer are almost over, but there are still plenty of chances to cash winning ‘under’ tickets in the majors. Check out this week’s list of the best ‘under’ teams in baseball over the L/5 days…
(Rank) (Team) (O/U Record) (O/U Record in L/5)
1: Minnesota Twins (61-66-6) (0-5 in L/5) The Twins had their chance to run their winning streak to 12 out of 14 games yesterday at home against the White Sox, but closer Joe Nathan uncharacteristically gave up four in the ninth to drop Minnesota 4.5-games behind Detroit for the lead in the AL Central. That was the first time that Twins’ pitchers had given up more than three runs in a game since August 26 th. A starter hasn’t allowed more than four earned runs in a start since SP Anthony Swarzak gave up six runs in Minnesota’s 11-1 loss to Texas on August 20 th. Still, C Joe Mauer is making his case for the MVP Award, as his batting average is up to .367 on the season. The Twins have played seven straight ‘under’ contests.
2: Arizona Diamondbacks (63-64-7) (0-4-1 in L/5) Arizona continues to show signs that 2010 is going to be a fantastic season. The D’Backs are hot, and they’re starting to play the role of spoiler for a lot of teams hoping to make the postseason. They effectively ended what was left of Houston’s season by taking four straight games from them, and now they’ve won two of their first three games in Los Angeles, which has kept both the Rockies and Giants in the NL West race. No one is pitching poor on Arizona’s staff right now. Save for a lousy outing by SP Max Scherzer on August 28 th, no starter has allowed more than three earned runs since August 23 rd. In their L/7 games, the D’Backs have shut out two opponents and held three more of their foes to three runs or less. If someone not named Dan Haren could’ve pitched this well earlier in the season, Arizona would probably be right in the thick of this NL West mess right now as well.
3: Chicago White Sox (52-79-3) (1-4 in L/5) Has anyone really figured out what in the heck the White Sox are doing? Just a month after trading the entire farm system for SP Jake Peavy, the team decided at the August 31 st trade deadline that it had to deal 1B/DH Jim Thome and SP Jose Contreras. The Sox have gone just 8-17 since August 6 th, and during that stretch, inexcusably lost series’ to Baltimore, Seattle, and Cleveland. In that stretch of losses, Chicago has only averaged scoring 4.16 runs per game, but it has been shut out twice and held to one run four times. The Palehose are eight games back in the loss column to the Tigers in the AL Central race, and it looks to be close to impossible to make up that type of a deficit this late in the season.
And the rest…
4: Washington Nationals (62-68-4) (1-4 in L/5)
5: Houston Astros (57-71-6) (1-4 in L/5)
