Detroit Tigers vs. Minnesota Twins 8:10 ET

Posted on 7/3/2009 12:00:00 AMby North Shore Sports, INC

American League Central Division baseball betting takes the spotlight on Friday evening at Bookmaker Sportsbook when the 1st place Detroit Tigers (43-35, +$560) and 2nd place Minnesota Twins (41-39, -$75) lock horns for the first time since mid May. The Tigers hold a three-game lead over the Twins for the top spot in the AL Central, but that lead was once six just a short 10 days ago. Detroit’s been scuffling of late, losing four of six on its current nine-game road trip that’s seen the club lose each series to the Houston Astros and Oakland A’s. While the Tigers have been an excellent investment at Comerica to date (23-11, +$918), they’ve been pretty mediocre on the road going 20-24 to cost its MLB betting backers $358 on the year. Minnesota enters this crucial three-game baseball wagering set off a solid showing on its nine-game road trip that saw Manager Ron Gardenhire’s club go 6-3 overall (+$280). Just like Detroit, the Twins have been dominant at home and below average as a visitor. In their 39 games played at the Metrodome, the Twins own a 24-15 mark (+$436) but are a woeful 17-24 on the road (-$511). With both clubs seasonal home/away trends, the Twins look to be on their way towards making the AL Central race even more interesting than it’s already become with the White Sox recent surge.

The host Twins and Kevin Slowey currently sit as -155 home chalks against the Tigers and rookie left-hander Lucas French; the game ‘total’ currently sits at 9 over -125.

Lucas French was most recently called up to take the place of the erratic Alfredo Figaro, and this will be the southpaw’s first career start in the “Bigs”. He’s gotten in some relief duty throughout the week surrendering not a hit or run while walking three and K’ing just as many. French had been the Tigers best hurler in the farm system throughout the last month. In his L/3 starts, the lengthy lefty didn’t figure in a decision but surrendered just four ER’s and 16 hits while fanning 26 through 23 innings of work. He’s also lasted at least 6 2/3rd innings in five of his L/6 outings.

Kevin Slowey failed to pick up his MLB leading 11th win his last time out against the St. Louis Cardinals in a humid Busch Stadium. The sweltering heat saw him last just three innings after giving up six hits and five earned runs. The defeat was just his second of the month, but the righty’s ERA swelled from 3.86 in May to 5.13 in June. He’s hoping he’ll rediscover his magic touch at home where he’s a perfect 8-0 on the year with a 4.07 ERA allowing 67 hits and 25 ER’s with a K/BB ratio of 38/11 through 55+ total innings of work. He’s already handled the Tigers once in this venue this year, and in his career is 3-0 with a 4.57 ERA in four overall starts.

The Twins have dominated the Tigers at home winning 57 of the L/83 overall meetings (69%), and they’ve won four of the five series meetings in ’09. They’re also a $$$-making 19-5 in Slowey’s L/24 home starts as a favorite. Detroit is 0-6 its L/6 games as a road underdog in the +110 to +150 range, 3-8 their L/11 road games, and 2-9 their L/11 on field turf. This series when played in the “Twinkie-Dome” has been of the higher scoring variety with the ‘over’ cashing for MLB bettors five of the L/6 times.

The Tigers have been playing some dreadful ball as a visitor of late, while the Twins return home off the high of their first successful road trip of the year. Can they sustain their solid play and take one step closer towards catching the Tigers, or will Detroit wake up and realize they’re only a handful of games up in the division? Login to your Bookmaker Sportsbook account to get action down on this series as well as the bevy of other MLB betting match-ups available throughout the 4th of July weekend!