Baseball Betting – Three is Magic Number for Mariners

Baseball bettors who have been following the year the Seattle Mariners have had realize that they are hitting a new low - again, as "three" seems to be the magic number for the M's, meaning they can't score more than three runs in a game. They try again on Friday as they take on the Cleveland Indians at Safeco Field (natural turf). Right-hander Fausto Carmona (11-13, 4.19 ERA) goes for the Tribe, while Seattle counters with southpaw Lucas French (3-4, 3.92 ERA). The Mariners are -115 favorites in the baseball betting line, with the total posted at seven runs. Are Mariners' backers gluttons for punishment?

MLB Baseball Betting

Cleveland Indians (54-80) at Seattle Mariners (52-82)

Live at Safeco Field, Seattle
Friday, September 3 -- 10:10 PM ET
: Seattle -115, Cleveland -105, Total 7

Here are some of the MLB betting trends for this game:

• Cleveland has lost four of its last five games
• Cleveland has lost six of its last eight road games
• Seattle has lost nine of its last 12 games
• Seattle has lost six of its last eight home games
• Seattle has played eight of its last 12 home games UNDER the total

It has now been seven straight games since Seattle has scored more than three runs in a game. Thursday's result brought more grief, as Josh Tomlin got enough offense behind him, courtesy of people like Shin-Soo Choo (who hit a two-run homer) to post a 6-3 win. Seattle closed as a -160 baseball betting favorite, and that evened their record at 24-24 when laying a price. They do so again on Friday night, but Safeco has not been a safe harbor for them, as they have lost six of their last eight t the venue.

Here are some of the head-to-head Major League Baseball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

• Seven of the last ten meetings have gone OVER the total
• Six of the last seven meetings in Seattle have gone OVER the total
• Cleveland has won the last six meetings as the road team

Fausto Carmona's last three starts against the Mariners have been pretty effective. He has allowed just four earned runs over 19-2/3 innings, but he was a victim of non-support on August 13 as he lost 3-2. Baseball bettors who played the Indians have lost each of the last five times Carmona has taken the mound. and you can't say he has pitched particularly well on all those occasions. In other words, he can't blame his offense completely. His last outing was five days ago at home against Kansas City, allowing three runs over 6-2/3 frames in a 6-2 defeat.

In his last five starts, Lucas French has had three brilliant outings, and baseball bettors have noticed. He allowed a run in eight innings against the Royals on August 6, blanked the Orioles on three hits over 7-2/3 innings on August 17, and then last Sunday he went seven against the Twins, yielding a run on three hits. As for putting two strong efforts in a row together; well, that hasn't exactly happened for him. But at least he won those games we talked about. That's better than a lot of Seattle pitchers can say.