Couple reasons for betting against Clemens.
1st - I bet against him my only time this year a few weeks ago and he lost. He's a great pitcher, regardless of his age, and it's tough to bet against him. But the last I saw pitchers don't go 22-0, if I said Clemens is going to go 18-6 this year, I would say thats great for him. That means he's going to lose 6 times throughout the year and maybe get a few no decisions where his team ended up winning. So, there are roughly 10 games that his team will lose when he pitches.
2nd I don't like laying anything above -160 typically on favorites, regardless of who they are and who's pitching. Houstons line is at -180.
3rd, Houston is not that good this year. Mainly because of their offense. The Astros simply do not put runs on the board, which puts a lot of pressure on Clemens to go out there and pitch lights out everytime on the mound.
4th I'm getting the D-Backs at +160 with a good young pitcher on the mound. Not many people know much about Halsey because he's young. Bookmakers, the public, etc don't know anything about Halsey, so the public figures, "Halsey? Who is that? Clemens will kill this guy." Halsey is good and the D-Backs have a better lineup. Too much pressure on Clemens to pitch perfect in this game.
And that very well may happen. Halsey may give up 9 and Cemens might throw a shutout, and all that. But it's a long-term investment and I'll win over the long haul.
If you ever have any questions about any games that I bet, don't hesitate to ask. I love talking baseball. Every bet I make is well thought out and I could go into a serious write-up on each play but I don't because it gets a little tough to type over time. But don't make the mistake that I just sit here and pick a handful of dogs and don't think about my plays and hope for a split.
I know you're not questioning me. I love talking baseball. Thanks for rooting for my plays. Best of luck on your card today.