MLB Betting – Can Tigers Beat Mariners, Keep Pace with Twins?

While sports betting and MLB betting fans know that the stretch run is what usually decides playoff spots in baseball, the AL Central race in 2010 is a little different.

Both the Twins, the MLB betting futures favorite going into the year, and the Tigers, the sports betting underdog in terms of winning the division, seem to be locked into a division race that could be nip-and-tuck over the course of the entire MLB season.

A total of 1 ½ games separates the two teams in the division and the next-closest team to the 2nd-place Tigers is Chicago at six games out. Can Detroit get revenge on Seattle for last night’s loss and keep pace with the Twins?

Detroit Tigers (Jeremy Bonderman, R) at

Seattle Mariners (Jason Vargas, L)

10:10 ET, Safeco Field

MLB betting line: Seattle favored at -1 ½

The Mariners won last night based on some timely hitting including home runs from Milton Bradley and Franklin Gutierrez of the Tigers’ best starter, Justin Verlander. But the M’s are near the bottom of the AL in many of the main offensive categories and they need such timely hits to have any chance of scoring on most days.

They will go up against Bonderman, who’s been solid of late and is recovered from myriad injuries, boasting an ERA of 4.43. Vargas has an edge in the pitching matchup with an ERA of just over 3, however, and he boasts great secondary numbers of a .99 WHIP and a .193 BA against.

The M’s are a last-place club, however, and the Tigers have a lot at stake in this game with it being the key for finishing off a successful West Coast road trip. Some may call it a getaway game but with a day off tomorrow, the Tigers know they have time to rest and to give it their all today.

This is likely to be a close game and that makes it tough to bet on the Mariners in relation to the -1 ½ MLB betting odds. The sports betting odds for Seattle are a little too high for a team that has a hard time scoring runs going up against a pitcher who’s been doing well lately in Bonderman.

Sports betting fans should stick with the superior team in this one despite the starting pitching edge for Seattle while also taking into account Detroit’s much better bullpen in this one.

MLB betting pick: Detroit Tigers (+1 ½).