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07/26/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez's quest for his 600th career home run resumes on the road this evening, when the superstar third baseman and his New York Yankee teammates start up a seven-game trek with the first of four consecutive meetings with the Cleveland Indians from Progressive Field.
Rodriguez, vying to become the seventh player in major league history to reach the 600-homer milestone, has failed to go deep in three straight contests since belting No. 599 in a 10-4 home victory over Kansas City on Thursday. The three-time American League MVP has still been productive at the plate, however, and had a hand in yesterday's 10-4 win over the Royals by collecting a pair of hits and knocking in three runs.
The perennial All-Star had an RBI double and a run-scoring single in the win, and got his final RBI of the day when he was in struck in the left hand and wrist by a pitch with the bases loaded in the eighth inning. Rodriguez did leave the game afterward, but is expected to be okay for tonight's matchup.
Rodriguez went 8-for-17 and drove in seven runs during the four-game series with the Royals, in which New York won three times, and is batting .400 (12- for-30) with 10 RBI over his last seven outings.
Curtis Granderson provided the power for the Yankees in Sunday's triumph, belting a pair of solo homers and scoring three times. Robinson Cano added two hits and a pair of RBI and Derek Jeter went 3-for-4 with a run-scoring double to help starter Phil Hughes register his 12th victory of the season.
Hughes (12-3) allowed three runs via a pair of Kansas City homers over the first 5 1/3 innings, exiting after the game was held up for over 2 1/2 hours by heavy rain in the top of the sixth.
"I can do a lot better. I felt like I was starting to get into a groove a little bit when the rains came," Hughes said afterward. "I was kind of disappointed, but it was a step in the right direction and I'll just look to improve."
Rodriguez owns a .375 (9-for-24) average with one career homer against Jake Westbrook, who'll be taking the mound tonight for perhaps the final time in a Cleveland uniform. The veteran right-hander has been the subject of trade rumors as Saturday's non-waiver deadline approaches.
Westbrook has drawn some interest from contending clubs with a decent bounce- back season after missing all of the 2009 campaign and most of 2008 recovering from elbow surgery. The 32-year-old has posted a respectable 6-6 record with a 4.74 ERA in 20 starts for the AL Central cellar-dwelling Tribe and has tossed at least six innings in six of his past eight trips to the mound.
He wasn't overly sharp his last time out, however, issuing a season-high five walks and surrendering four runs over six frames in a loss at Minnesota this past Wednesday. Westbrook had won his initial start following the All-Star break after holding Detroit to two runs in 5 2/3 innings back on July 16.
The one-time Yankee will be taking on his former club for the first time since the 2007 AL Division Series and has a 2-4 record with a 5.29 ERA in 10 regular-season appearances (seven starts) versus New York.
The Yankees, who enter this series with a three-game lead on Tampa Bay for first place in the AL East, will hand the ball to Javier Vazquez in the opener. The offseason acquisition has pitched well for the Bronx Bombers after a rough beginning to the season, as he's compiled a 5-2 record with a 3.10 ERA in nine starts since June 1.
Vazquez wasn't real good in his most recent assignment, though, despite picking up his eighth win of the season. The right-hander allowed five runs and a pair of homers in a five-inning stint against the Angels on Wednesday, but received a wealth of offensive support in a 10-6 verdict.
The 34-year-old has yet to face the Indians this season but has plenty of experience against them, having spent three years with fellow AL Central member Chicago from 2006-08. Vazquez is 7-5 with a 4.40 ERA over 16 lifetime starts against Cleveland and is 4-3 with a 3.98 ERA in nine Progressive Field appearances.
The Indians will be continuing a seven-game homestand that began with Friday's 4-2 victory over Tampa Bay. The playoff-hopeful Rays rebounded to win the next two bouts, however, and claimed a 4-2 decision in Sunday's rubber match.
Tribe starter Justin Masterson (3-9) gave up all four Tampa runs (three earned), three of which came on a Reid Brignac homer in the top of the second inning. He lasted 6 1/3 frames and permitted just five hits while striking out five.
"I look at it as a slider that forgot to slide," Masterson said about the pitch to Brignac. "It turned out to be a terrible cutter like 85 (miles per hour)."
Travis Hafner went 4-for-4 at the plate for Cleveland, with Carlos Santana and Andy Marte driving in the team's only runs.
New York took three of four games from the Indians at Yankee Stadium back in May and has prevailed in seven of the last nine clashes between the teams. In their only visit to Cleveland last season, the Yankees won three of four tests from the Tribe.
<< Appalachian State, Villanova stars headline All-America team
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Appalachian State may have lost two-time
Walter Payton Award winner Armanti Edwards, but it boasts a national-best
seven players on The Sportsbook Betting Lines/Fathead.com Football Championship
Subdivision Preseason A
<< Phillies go for four-game sweep of Rockies
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies will try to complete a four-game
sweep of the Colorado Rockies this afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.
Philadelphia won its fourth straight game on Sunday, as Jimmy Rollins tied the
contest and then
<< Angels get Dan Haren and a tree falls in the forest
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yawn.
That is exactly the first thought that went through my head when my I-Phone
beeped on Sunday night with the news that the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim had
acquired Dan Haren from the Arizona Diamondbacks for Joe Sau
<< Former free agent pitching bust having a big season
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - CC Sabathia, Carl Pavano, Justin Verlander,
David Price, John Lester. Tell me which name doesn't belong on this list.
If you said Carl Pavano, you normally wouldn't get much of an argument, at
least until this
Wounded Tigers kick off road trip versus Rays >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers begin what could be a make-or-break
week-long road trip for the American League Central contenders tonight at
Tropicana Field, where the struggling and injury-plagued club takes on the
Tampa Bay Rays in a c
Reds head to Milwaukee to battle surging Brewers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds try to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers for
the seventh straight time when the National League Central rivals open a
three-game set this evening at Miller Park.
The Reds, who swept a two-game set from the B
Twins, Liriano aim to keep rolling in Kansas City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins had everything working on Sunday as
they pulled even closer to the top spot in the American League Central.
They'll try to continue that tonight behind Francisco Liriano, who seeks a
third straight winn
ChiSox seeking to get back on track at Mariners' expense >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A subpar road trip has tightened things atop the American
League Central for the first-place Chicago White Sox. A return home against a
favorable opponent could help the club get back on track.
Chicago seeks a fifth consec
Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."
When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules.
The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.
The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.
“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”
The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.
“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”
The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.
“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”
Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.
“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."
So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?
“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.
Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.
Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.
Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.
“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.
Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.
The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.
“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.
Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.
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Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds
Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.
The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.
The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.
Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.
MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:
Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)
Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)
Matt Foust won both of his conference championship plays yesterday and he is ready to serve up plenty of Super Bowl action. Each individual play costs $15.00, however, MySportsbook.com recommends purchasing Matt's NFL Playoff Package which includes all of Matt's Super Bowl props and picks from just $45.00.
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