MLB Free Picks: Minnesota @ Seattle

Added on Jun 02, 2010 by Jack Thurman in

MLB

Baseball betting action is front and center at sportsbooks for Wednesday, and we’ll head out to the Pacific Northwest to take a look at an American League game between the Minnesota Twins and Seattle Mariners. Seattle is mired in last place, though they have shown some signs of life here and there. Minnesota has opened up a 4.5 game lead atop the AL Central and are in a position to run away with the division if they can string some wins together.

Minnesota Twins at Seattle Mariners
June 2, 7:10 PM Pacific

2008 Cy Young winner Cliff Lee gets the start for Seattle tonight, and that gives us some good value going the other way. Lee is by all means a talented pitcher, but so far in 2010 he’s been spectacularly average. He’s got a 3.22 ERA overall, including a 4.64 mark at home. More significantly, the Mariners are only 3-3 in his 6 starts this season. He l0oked sharp in his last start at the LA Angels but was hit hard in his last home start against San Diego giving up 11 hits and 7 earned runs (though, amazingly, he got the win in the 15-8 slugfest).

Minnesota is a ridiculously well balanced team–they rank third in the AL in team ERA and team batting average. Kevin Slowey’s YTD numbers aren’t spectacular (4.15 ERA) but he’s looked sharp in his last few outings (he’s allowed a total of 3 ER in his last 2 starts) and most important of all the Twins have won 7 of his 10 assignments. Twins are 11-6 +5 units against lefthanders this season, and we’ll gladly take them at an underdog price here. Lee is certainly capable of being a dominant pitcher, but until he shows evidence of that in a Mariners uniform we have no issue with playing against him.

Bet Minnesota (Slowey) +140 over Seattle (Lee)