Betting tips / Ed Wyatt / 09 October 2011 / Leave a comment Bet Now

When last he wrote, Ed Wyatt mentioned that best-of-five MLB series always throw up a few upsets, and was he on the money or what?!

How do you like the two best teams in baseball - the Phillies and the Yankees - eliminated from contention?

The American and National League Championship Series are best-of-seven, with the teams with better regular season records (Texas Rangers and Milwaukee Brewers) getting home field advantage.

American League
Detroit and Texas played nine times during the regular season and the Tigers won six of those meetings. The Tigers were 4-2 at home and 2-1 on the road against the Rangers, outscoring them 45-37. You may think that regular season games are meaningless, but consider that St. Louis had the same edge on Philadelphia and look how that one turned out.

This is essentially a battle of Detroit's superb pitching and Texas' great hitting. The Tigers staff - led by ace Justin Verlander - shut down the vaunted Yankees attack and will look to do the same against Michael Young, Adrian Beltre and Josh Hamilton.

While the old adage is "good pitching beats good hitting," in this case I'm going to go with the Rangers. They're experienced and hungry to return to the World Series. Earlier I advised laying the Tigers to win the American League and I'm sticking with that.

National League
In the National League we have a "Suds Series," so named because both Milwaukee and St. Louis were known as beer brewing cities. Both teams are from the NL Central, with the Brewers winning the title and finishing six games ahead of the Cardinals. Since they're in the same division, they played each other a remarkable 18 times, each winning nine, five at home and four on the road, with the Brewers outscoring the Cards 71-64.

Both teams have plenty of offense. The Cardinals led the National League in runs scored, and feature superstar Albert Pujols, who was 7 for 20 (.350) in the NLDS. The Brewers led the league in home runs, with Prince Fielder belting 38 and Ryan Braun 33. Braun was 9 for 18 (.500) in the NLDS.

I think pitching will be the key here for St. Louis. Cards' ace Chris Carpenter shut down the Phillies in Game Five, and while he won't start Game One against the Brewers, Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa will want to get him as many stars as possible. Jaime Garcia - who was 2-0 against Milwaukee in the regular season - will be on the mound in Game One.

The Brewers had the best home record in the National League, which proved to be an advantage against the Diamondbacks. I see that as a crucial aspect of this series as well.

Back the "Brew Crew" or lay the Cardinals.