MLB Betting Week of Sept. 24 Recap at Bovada
Two weeks ago, a Tigers-Twins game took the most lopsided betting lean of the week and it turned out as the book's No. 1 MLB result for that week. This past week, once again a Tigers-Twins game took the biggest action of any MLB game at Bovada, but this time bettors cashed in.
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The game in question was Saturday's 6-4 Detroit victory at Minnesota. With ace Justin Verlander on the bump, the Tigers closed as big -240 favorites and took more than 98 percent of the lean. At minus-1.5 runs (-140), Detroit took more than 96 percent of the action. The book did fare well on the total as only about 26 percent of the action was on over eight runs - no doubt because Verlander was pitching.
The Twins definitely weren't good for the book last week as bettors' other top win was on the Yankees beating Minnesota 8-2 on Wednesday. Behind their ace, CC Sabathia, the Yanks were also -240 favorites and took almost 95 percent of the action. At minus-1.5 runs (-140), the Bombers took more than 92 percent of the lean.
The top player prop win of the week for players was on Angels pitcher Zack Greinke going over 5.5 strikeouts in his Tuesday start vs. Seattle. Greinke struck out a season-high 13 to become the first pitcher since 1920 to strike out 13 batters in a start that lasted only five innings. The Angels' staff tied an MLB record with 20 total strikeouts in a nine-inning game. The top series result last week for bettors was on Oakland at +170 taking two of the first three in a four-game set at Texas (-210).
Tigers star Miguel Cabrera had an off week and that turned out to be great for the book as three of the top five player prop results for Bovada were on Cabrera finishing under a combined 2.5 hits, runs and RBIs in games Tuesday-Thursday vs. Kansas City. Cabrera was a combined 1-for-10 with one run scored in that stretch.
The book's top game result was on the Chicago White Sox losing 4-3 at home to Cleveland on Tuesday. The Pale Hose were -188 favorites and took almost 89 percent of the lean. At minus-1.5 runs (-110), Chicago had about 87 percent of the action. The book's top series result was on Detroit at -325 taking the first three games of its four-game series vs. Kansas City (+250).
Early-Week Live Betting Options
Barring the need for a one-game playoff to decide a wild-card spot or division winner, which would be Thursday, the 2012 regular season ends on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the book will offer live play-by-play betting on the Red Sox-Yankees and Giants-Dodgers games. New York and San Francisco already are in the playoffs, with the Giants taking the NL West and locked into the No. 3 seed in the NL.
The Yankees are battling Baltimore for the AL East title, with the runner-up of that having to play in the one-game wild-card playoff on Friday, likely against the A's. Should New York and Baltimore finish in a dead heat atop the AL East, they would play Thursday at Camden Yards to decide the division winner. The Orioles close the season at Tampa Bay.
There is one other notable Tuesday game: Mets at Marlins. It has no playoff relevance whatsoever but will feature the return to the majors of Adam Greenberg. Back in 2005, Greenberg was a young Cubs prospect. On July 9 of that season, he stepped in to face Marlins pitcher Valerio de los Santos in his first big-league at-bat. The-now 31-year-old Greenberg was hit in the head by de los Santos' first pitch (a 92 mph fastball) and never played again, dealing with post-concussion syndrome for years.
Greenberg is trying to work his way back to becoming a big leaguer, and he will be for one day. Thanks to a national campaign and a special one-day contract approved by MLB, Greenberg will have an at-bat Tuesday for, ironically, the Marlins. Bovada is offering a special prop on what the result of that at-bat will be. The options are: strikeout (7/5), ground out (11/4), fly out (7/2), single (4/1), walk or hit-by-pitch (5/1), double or triple (10/1) or home run (50/1).
You know Greenberg will be up there hacking with this miracle opportunity, and he might lead off the bottom of the first for the Marlins. The Mets are starting 20-game winner and NL Cy Young contender R.A. Dickey.
Wednesday there are four games with live betting: Phillies at Nationals, Mets at Marlins, Rangers at A's and Reds at Cardinals. If you bet on Cabrera to win the Triple Crown, you will have a chance to see how he fares that night. ESPN plans to cut to Detroit-Kansas City for each of Cabrera's at-bats as he tries to become MLB's first Triple Crown winner since 1967.
MLB Live Betting at Bovada. Raise your game.
