Red Sox, Rangers continue key series in Texas
Baseball Betting Lines
08/14/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off a thrilling come-from-behind extra-inning extravaganza, the Texas Rangers will try to kick the Boston Red Sox while they are down when the two teams do battle again this evening in the middle matchup of a three-game set at Rangers Ballpark at Arlington.
In last night's opener, Nelson Cruz hit Tim Wakefield's first pitch in the bottom of the 11th inning over the wall in left field, giving the Rangers an incredible 10-9 win over the Red Sox.
Although Cruz hit the winning homer, Josh Hamilton was the star for the Rangers, as he went 4-for-5 with a homer, scored four times and made three great catches in the outfield. That included robbing Jed Lowrie of a possible home run in the sixth inning.
Playing their first game since Major League Baseball's approval of the sale of the franchise from Tom Hicks to a group led by Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan, the Rangers gave their new ownership group plenty of cheer. They rallied from an 8-2 deficit and finished with 17 hits, including home runs from Michael Young and Mitch Moreland.
The opener of this series proved to be a hitting barrage, with the Red Sox clubbing five homers -- including two from J.D. Drew. Lowrie, David Ortiz and Adrian Beltre also went deep, but Boston dropped its second in a row.
Both starters didn't last long. Josh Beckett gave up 10 hits and six runs over five innings for Boston, while Texas' Tommy Hunter allowed six hits, including consecutive homers to Ortiz, Beltre and Drew to start Boston's seven-run fourth inning. He was replaced after Drew's 15th blast of the season.
The gritty play of the AL West-leading Rangers helped them to tie the game in the eighth. Down 9-8, Hamilton doubled to right field with two outs. Vladimir Guerrero then hit a roller up the middle, and the throw to first base was barely late as he slid in head-first and was safe. Hamilton chugged around third and barely made it home as the throw from first baseman Mike Lowell was a tad late.
Darren O'Day (4-2) pitched the 11th inning to get the win and stretched his club-record scoreless appearance streak to 29 games. He has worked 26 1/3 straight shutout frames and hasn't been scored upon since June 1 against the White Sox.
Wakefield (3-9) had his first pitch -- a knuckleball -- crushed by Cruz, who ended with two RBI on the night. It was his 16th homer of the season.
Tonight the Red Sox will look for revenge and have the perfect player on the mound to help out with that task in Jon Lester. The southpaw snapped a personal four-game slide the last time he took the hill, as he led the Red Sox to a 2-1 win over the New York Yankees on Monday.
In the victory Lester tossed 6 1/3 shutout innings against the Bronx Bombers while scattering just four hits and striking out six batters.
Earlier this season the Rangers scored four runs -- three earned -- against the hard throwing lefty. In that meeting, which was a loss for Lester, the Red Sox hurler scattered nine hits in eight innings and struck out six batters.
In his career against Texas, Lester is 2-1 with a 3.51 earned run average in six starts.
The Rangers will counter with Colby Lewis, who is looking for his first win since July 16. The last time right-hander was on the bump he battled hard against the Athletics on Sunday, holding Oakland to just one run on three hits in six innings. While on the mound Lewis walked three, but also struck out seven.
The veteran hurler has pitched well in Arlington this season, posting a 5-2 ledger with a 3.14 earned run average in nine starts.
Oddly enough the last win for Lewis came against Boston, as he helped the Rangers to an 8-4 victory on July 16. In the win, Lewis surrendered three runs on four hits in just five innings, but also struck out seven batters.
The Rangers have won five of eight over the Red Sox this year and were victorious in five of six meetings at home last season over Boston.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies may possess one of the National League's most potent offenses at full strength, but those bats have been ice cold whenever the team has paid a visit to New York's Citi Field this season. Still in
<< Miami's Franklin welcoming pressure of left tackle
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) -Orlando Franklin dropped more than 20 pounds during the offseason, prepping to move to left tackle for his senior season at Miami.So there's some irony: The Hurricanes' season largely rests on his slimmed-down shoulders.Not
<< Bills' Jackson requires more tests on hand injury
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -Buffalo Bills running back Fred Jackson will have further tests to determine the severity of a hand injury that will force the starter to miss at least the remainder of the preseason.Jackson's agent, Jerome Douglas, tells The Ass
<< Michigan's hearing before NCAA begins
SEATTLE (AP) -Michigan's hearing before the NCAA on rules violations within its football program has started.Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez, school president Mary Sue Coleman and athletic director David Brandon were among the Wolverines contingent in
<< Stewart passes physical, practices with Panthers
SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) -Carolina Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart has passed his physical and is cleared to practice for the first time since offseason heel surgery.Stewart participated in individual drills, but was held out of team work Satur
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- The Baltimore Orioles will try to continue their sensational play under new head coach Buck Showalter when they take on the Tampa Bay Rays this afternoon in the second installment of a three-game series at Tropicana Field.
Giants to face challenge from Padres' Latos >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- The San Francisco Giants were unable to gain ground on the
first-place San Diego Padres in Friday's opener of an important three-game
series between the National League West foes. With a matchup against the
formidable Mat La
Wenger signs Arsenal extension >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arsenal have announced that long-serving
manager Arsene Wenger has signed a new contract that will keep him at the
Emirates Stadium until the end of the 2013-14 season.
Wenger, who was appointed Gun
Indians aim to even weekend set with Mariners >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mitch Talbot will take the hill this evening for the
Cleveland Indians in the second contest of a three-game set against the
Seattle Mariners at Progressive Field.
Talbot is making his first start since straining his back
Tigers send out Porcello in hopes of taking down ChiSox >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- Fresh off his first win in over two months, Rick Porcello
will take the mound this evening for the Detroit Tigers as they battle the
Chicago White Sox in the second contest of a three-game set at U.S. Cellular
Field.
Aft
Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence
Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.
Work left to do:
Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.
Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.
DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...
West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.
Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.
For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com
For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.