MLB Monday-San Francisco Giants at Florida Marlins

Most people that bet on baseball are happy that Randy Johnson recently picked up his 300th career win. On Monday night Johnson leads his San Francisco Giants against the Florida Marlins in National League action that is scheduled to get underway at 7:10 PM ET at Land Shark Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL.

Big, tall southpaws oppose each other in this game. The Giants go with 6'10" Randy Johnson (5-4, 5.12 ERA), who is just coming off his 300th career win, while Florida counters with 6'8" Sean West (0-1, 3.31 ERA), who can throw some heat as well.

MLB betting odds (according to BetUS Sportsbook): Marlins -135, Giants +115, Total 8.5

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

* SF has won four of its last five games
* SF has four of its last five games UNDER the total
* SF has won four of its last five road games
* SF has played four of its last five road games UNDER the total
* FLA has lost 16 of its last 24 home games
* FLA has played eight of its last 13 games UNDER the total

In the HEAD-TO-HEAD sports betting trends:

* SF has won four of the last five meetings
* Four of the last six meetings have gone UNDER the total
* SF has won eight of the last 11 meetings as the road team

The Giants have benefited from very good pitching in winning two of the three games against Florida in this series. Tim Lincecum won his fifth straight game on Sunday, going seven innings without allowing a run before Chris Coughlan his a two-run homer off him. San Francisco held on for a 3-2 win, which was yet another game in this set in which they had to endure a rain delay.

Randy Johnson is just coming off his 300th career victory, and he may be the last guy to do that for a while, considering that starting pitchers simply don't go as many innings or get as many decisions anymore. The effect of achieving that milestone might be that he has a letdown, or it might be that he senses the relief of some pressure.

The biggest effect, in the opinion of some, might be that he is pitching here on just three days' rest, which is highly unusual these days in the majors. Johnson has a 6-1 career record in these situations, but he hasn't started a game on three days' notice since 2005. To compound the uncertainty, he has a mild bruise in his left shoulder after he fell on it in his last start. He was outstanding in his last start against Florida, allowing just one run in seven innings and striking out 13.

Sean West is a youngster with similar dimensions to Johnson, and like the Big Unit he's got a lot of velocity but sometimes struggles with control. His initial start against Tampa Bay was very credible, as he gave up just two runs in five innings. He was brilliant against the Mets, going seven innings and allowing just one run in four hits. Last time out, he gave up three earned runs (five overall) against Milwaukee before being lifted with one out in the fifth inning.
The Marlins, unfortunately, have lost all three of his starts.

Even if Johnson can't go that many innings, he should be able to give the Giants some solid work. He's been reached for seven runs in three different starts, but of late he has allowed only two earned runs and 11 hits in 17-1/3 innings over his last three outings. In a matchup between a strikeout pitcher with 300 wins, who has been effective lately, against a kid making his fourth career start, for a team that leads the league in striking out, if we can get the veteran as an underdog, we're jumping on it. We'll take the Giants, the +115 underdog in the BetUS National League baseball betting odds.

Our Pick: San Francisco (+115)

Charles Jay touches all the bases as a regular contributor to the BetUS Locker Room. Check the latest MLB betting lines now at BetUS Sportsbook.