The Seattle Mariners (0-0) and Oakland Athletics (0-0) will open up the 2012 Major League Baseball season inside the Tokyo Dome on Wednesday, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:10 a.m. EDT.
Las Vegas oddsmakers have established the Mariners as -130 favorites in a unique situation, while the total is 7 across the board.
Seattle will receive a majority of wagers in the betting market due to outfielder Ichiro Suzuki playing in his home country, while also possessing an edge on the mound between scheduled starters.
Felix Hernandez is certainly one of the best pitchers in the American League, but comes off a rather pedestrian season in going 14-14 with a 3.47 ERA in 33 starts last year.
The Mariners didn’t supply much run support for the 2010 Cy Young Award winner or for any of their hurlers, finishing last in the majors in scoring 556 runs in 2011.
Hernandez is set to make his fifth Opening Day start and seems poised to lead his team to victory in the opening game of a two-game series.
He has registered an impressive 12-4 record and 2.54 ERA in 21 career starts versus the Athletics, including a perfect 3-0 mark and 1.45 ERA in four starts last year.
Bettors will find that the Mariners are 14-3 in Hernandez’s last 17 starts in this American League West series.
Oakland hopes its 14-5 record during spring training will translate into success during the regular season, especially since the franchise finished with a 74-88 mark and 22.0 games behind the division-winning Texas Rangers a year ago.
The Athletics are hoping that right-hander Brandon McCarthy can build off a solid 2011 campaign, finishing with a 9-9 record and 3.32 ERA in 25 starts.
He registered a disappointing 1-3 mark in four starts against the Mariners a year ago despite allowing just seven runs and 19 hits in 31 2/3 innings (1.99 ERA).
From a betting perspective, I’m going to pass on making a full-game selection in this contest, but will recommend a proposition wager.
I expect the visitor to get on the scoreboard first.
Pick: Seattle Mariners (-160) to score first
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