Boston Red Sox vs. Baltimore Orioles Line May 21, 2012

Carrie Stroup here with your Boston Red Sox vs. Baltimore Orioles betting line for May 21, 2012.  Get all of tonight’s MLB lines here. 

Sportsbook.ag Line & Total: Boston -108 & 9.5 under -120

Boston can crawl back to .500 for only the second time this year if they can grab a win over division-leading Baltimore on Monday night.

The Red Sox have certainly been playing better of late, but for them to be paying out less than even money in a road game with the utterly atrocious Clay Buchholz on the mound is absurd. Contributing to his 7.77 ERA was the pounding Buchholz received at home against the Orioles on May 6 (3.2 innings, 11 base runners, 5 runs, 3 home runs allowed). Baltimore isn’t exactly sending an ace to the hill in Tommy Hunter, who allowed five runs in 4.1 innings at Boston in that same May 6 game. But the right-hander has a 2.42 ERA over four home starts this season. And after sweeping the Red Sox in Fenway earlier this month, the Orioles are now 8-2 against Boston since last September.

Hunter (2-2, 4.78 ERA) has been up and down all season, but the Orioles have won six of his eight starts. He was strong in his last outing Wednesday in Kansas City, holding the Royals to two runs over seven innings in a no-decision (the O’s mounted a comeback and won in 15 innings). He has a 7.02 ERA in seven career starts against Boston (four with Texas, three with Baltimore), but incredibly has been on the winning team six times in those seven starts.

Buchholz (4-2, 7.77 ERA) has delivered just one quality start in eight appearances this season and has been completely ineffective in his return from the back injury that cut his 2011 season short. He’s been solid against the Orioles over his career as a whole (3.79 ERA over 11 games including one relief appearance), but Baltimore has hit him hard the past two seasons. In April 2011, Baltimore got to Buchholz for four runs on 12 hits and two walks over 6.2 innings in an Orioles victory in Baltimore. He’s been very up-and-down at Camden Yards, where his 5.46 ERA over five career starts includes a five-hit shutout in June 2010 and six innings of one-run ball in September 2009, but also last April’s shellacking, and two other starts in which he pitched four innings or less while giving up five runs or more.

I also have your Rangers vs. Mariners betting preview for tonight’s game. 

TEXAS RANGERS (26-16) at SEATTLE MARINERS (19-24)

Sportsbook.ag Line & Total: Texas -144 & 6.5 under -115

Two of baseball’s premier arms go head-to-head when Yu Darvish and the Rangers visit Felix Hernandez and the Mariners on Monday night.

While the Rangers have dominated Seattle over the past two seasons, going 18-5 against the Mariners including 7-3 in Seattle, this matchup is much more even than the money line would suggest. Darvish has had control issues all season (4.5 walks per 9 innings) and hasn’t pitched as well as his 2.60 ERA would indicate. Hernandez has thrown 20 consecutive scoreless innings at home, and the Mariners are coming off a three-game sweep at Colorado. Their bats have been uncharacteristically lively of late, as the M’s have scored 25 runs over their past four games.

Despite his command issues, Darvish (6-1, 2.60 ERA, 1.33 WHIP) has been excellent in his first big league season. But the Mariners did get to him in his first (and worst) start of the year on April 9, smacking eight hits to go along with four walks and a hit batsman over 5.2 innings. Darvish has a 2.16 ERA in four road starts, striking out 29, but also walking 15 over 25 innings.

Hernandez was roughed up on the road in each of his past two starts (12 runs, 10 earned, over 10.1 innings at New York Yankees and Cleveland). But he’s thrown eight shutout innings in each of his past two home starts, striking out 21 while allowing just nine base runners over 16 innings.

The Rangers have knocked him around pretty good over the years, as Hernandez is 10-16 with a 4.03 ERA over 32 career starts against Texas. The Mariners are 12-20 (.375) in these 32 starts. Last year, he dropped all four starts against the Rangers while posting a 5.04 ERA and allowing 18 runs on 36 hits in 25 innings.

- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter