MLB Picks from Camden Yards – White Sox at Orioles

BetOnline MLB betting odds: PICK’EM (-110 each way), Total 9

Left-hander John Danks takes the hill for the Pale Hose, while the O’s counter with their #1 starter, Jeremy Guthrie.

Here are some of the MLB Baseball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

(Numbers may go back to last season)

* CHI has won six of its last nine games

* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total

* BALT has lost five of its last six games

* BALT has played eight of its last nine games OVER the total

* BALT has won five of its last seven home games

* BALT has played six of its last eight home games OVER the total

In the HEAD-TO-HEAD sports betting trends:

* CHI has won four of the last six meetings

* Twelve of the last 18 meetings in Baltimore have gone OVER the total

Baltimore, which is starving for pitching, got a solid outing on Tuesday from right-hander Bradley Bergensen, who went 15-6 in Double A ball last season. Bergensen went five and two-thirds innings against the White Sox and gave up only four hits and a single earned run, leading the O’s to a 10-3 win that was badly needed, as it broke a five-game losing streak. The big bats, once again, were Nick Markakis, who went four-for-four with a couple of RBI’s, and Aubrey Huff, who smashed two homers. The Orioles, who have allowed more runs per game than anyone in the AL, have a chance to get over the .500 mark on Wednesday night.

Jeremy Guthrie, who is the #1 starter in a rather weak rotation, gets the nod for Baltimore in that quest. Guthrie has admittedly been hot and cold; he started the season with a respectable outing against the Yankees, giving up three runs over six innings on April 6, and followed that with a very strong performance against Tampa Bay five days later, holding the Rays without a score over six, but was roughed up a bit against the Red Sox last Friday, leaving after 4-2/3 innings, having given up eight hits, four walks and five earned runs.

Going into last night’s game, Baltimore had gone through a period where it was outscored 20-6 over a three-game period. The starters are thin; the bullpen is even thinner, and oddsmakers have had a hard time making totals that are high enough. The O’s have gone over the number in eight of their last nine games.

John Danks, who last faced Baltimore on August 27, allowing seven hits and four earned runs in four innings, has riddled opposition hitters thus far. Danks is one of the better young left-handers in baseball, aand has allowed only five hits in 12 innings, striking out 13. Although his seven walks are a concern, that would seem to be an anomaly, considering he’s issued only about one free pass per every three innings in his brief career.

In a pick’em game like this, we would side with the kind of form Danks has showed, especially since the Orioles don’t have the kind of support for Guthrie in a pitching staff that is not very deep. It’s the White Sox in the BetOnline American League baseball sports betting odds.

JAY’S PLAY:  CHI. WHITE SOX (-110) ***

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)