Take San Diego at Even Money – Phillies at Padres

BetOnline MLB betting odds: Phillies -120, Padres +100, Total 8

Right-handers go against each other in Monday night’s game, with Joe Blanton of the Phillies (3-3, 6.14 ERA) taking on Kevin Correia of the Padres (1-3, 5.11 ERA).

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

* PHIL has won four of its last five games

* PHIL has played eight of its last nine games UNDER the total

* PHIL has won eight of its last ten road games

* PHIL has played five of its last six road games UNDER the total

* SD has won 12 of its last 15 games

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

* SD has won its last 10 home games

* SD has played six of its last seven home games UNDER the total

In the HEAD-TO-HEAD sports betting trends:

* Five of the last eight meetings have gone UNDER the total

* PHIL has won five of the last six meetings as the road team

* Four of the last six meetings in San Diego have gone OVER the total

The Phillies got off to a relatively slow start but they are in first place in the NL East, a half-game in front of the New York Mets. The Phillies are doing this despite being the only first OR second place team in the big leagues with a home record under the .500 level. The Padres, even after getting hot lately, are going to have a hard time catching up to the L.A. Dodgers, who lead the NL West. They are nine games back, and that might become even tougher if the expected trade of Jake Peavy eventually goes through.

San Diego has lost three of its last five games, but previous to that they had won ten games in a row, and one of the primary reasons is that they were playing games at home. The Padres have now won ten straight games at Petco Park, and with a 17-6 home record this season they kind of cancel out Philadelphia’s 16-6 road record, which happens to be the best in the majors. During San Diego’s winning streak, the team gave up a total of 23 runs, and two runs or less on seven different occasions. You can’t exactly argue that they’re doing it with offense, as San Diego is averaging just four runs a game, which puts them in 15th place in the National League. However, they do sport the lowest home ERA in the senior circuit.

Joe Blanton had some pretty bad fortune over a three-start stretch, banged around for 15 runs in 18 innings, but he was sizzling last time out, as he finished seven scoreless innings against the Marlins six days ago, registering eleven strikeouts in the process. His counterpart, Kevin Correia, was not effective in his last start at Arizona, but he’s shown pretty good control of late, walking just one hitter in his last two outings. That’s an encouraging sign. He’s got no recent history against the Phillies; in fact, his last start against them was back in 2003, when he was pitching for the Giants. Unless you consider Blanton to be dependable (which we don’t), the Padres, and their home winning streak, are most definitely worth a look here at even money in the BetOnline National League baseball sports betting odds.

JAY’S PLAY: SAN DIEGO (Even) **

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)