The MLB Playoffs Betting Odds for game #1 have the New York Yankees at -127 (must risk $127.00 to win $100.00) and the Detroit Tigers +117 ($100.00 wager would pay back $170.00) with the total set at 7 (over -115). The top seed in the AL, the New York Yankees, will host the Detroit Tigers beginning Friday night with a start time and the first pitch set to be thrown at 8:37 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on TBS. In what might be the best matchup of any opening series in this year's post season, the Tigers and Yankees each eclipsed the 95-win plateau this season, with the Tigers finishing right on 95 wins for the season.

Free World Series Baseball Pick: Detroit may be the hottest team in baseball over the past month and a half, winning 31 of their final 40 games this year to finish 28 games above the .500 mark. Ace and MVP candidate, as well as Cy Young shoe-in Justin Verlander has had a lot to say about where this team is, but don't look past the rest of the rotation. The Tigers went out and picked up Doug Fister from the Seattle Mariners in a deadline deal and Fister has proven to be extremely effective. In the 10 games Fister started since coming over to the Tigers, he finished 8-1 with an ERA of just 1.79. In addition to Verlander and Fister running the top of the rotation, Max Scherzer also was a 15-game winner and Rick Porcello won 14 games this season. The bulk of the Tigers rotation is going to provide problems for the Yankees in this series. None of the four give up a lot of fly balls or home runs, where the Yankees get a good portion of their offensive numbers from.

Detroit won 4 of the 7 games between the two ball clubs this season, but the Bronx Bombers were able to win both games that Verlander started. The Tigers' ace didn't earn a loss in either game but the team did. Detroit scored only three runs in both games, the same number of runs Verlander gave up in both games. In Sabathia's two starts against Detroit he's 0-1, giving up seven earned runs in 13 innings. Detroit can hit lefties well and if they are able to win the opening game of this series, it could be a short one for the Yankees. It's hard to bet against the Tigers at this point in the season, especially with Verlander on the hill. The Yankees are the top seed in the American League for a reason but Detroit isn't a bad team either, which many people will find out during this series. I'm going to take the best pitcher in baseball as an underdog at this point of the year, even if they are on the road.

Betting Strategies: Handicapping Theories
Host Marco D'Angelo and Pregame Pro Dave Essler discuss there handicapping theories and what they look at when they are handicapping games.