King Felix goes for Mariners at Fenway
Baseball Betting Lines
07/03/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners enter the final leg of a challenging road trip with tonight's opener of a three-game series with the American League East-leading Boston Red Sox from Fenway Park.
The surprising Mariners have acquitted themselves well on the nine-game trek, which began with a weekend series with the Los Angeles Dodgers -- owners of baseball's best record -- and continued with three straight meetings with the New York Yankees. Seattle is 3-3 so far on the trip after knocking around Yankees ace CC Sabathia in last night's 8-4 victory.
Seattle battered Sabathia for six runs and 10 hits over the game's first 5 2/3 inning and had five players finish with multiple hits on the night. Franklin Gutierrez went 3-for-5 with a solo home run to lead the way, while Russell Branyan belted a towering two-run shot in the ninth inning to cap the scoring.
Ichiro Suzuki and Chris Woodward also knocked in two runs to help the Mariners avoid a series sweep and win for the eighth time in their last 12 games.
Miguel Batista (5-2) collected the win with two scoreless innings in relief of starter Jason Vargas, who lasted just four frames and allowed all four New York runs. The Seattle bullpen combined to hold the Yankees scoreless over the final five innings.
The Mariners, who enter tonight's play trailing the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim by 3 1/2 games for first place in the AL West, will now take on a Boston club that's a major league-best 25-10 at home this season. Seattle counters by sending out one of the game's most dominant pitchers as of late in ace Felix Hernandez.
Hernandez is 4-0 over his last seven starts and has produced a sensational 0.85 earned run average during that stretch. The 23-year-old phenom has worked at least 6 2/3 innings in each of those games and hasn't suffered a loss since May 29.
The right-hander is coming off a brilliant performance against the Dodgers on Saturday, when Hernandez yielded one unearned run on four hits and fanned nine batters over eight stellar innings.
"He's getting better and better," said Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu after the game. "He was electric [Saturday]. You can't say enough about him."
Hernandez has also held his own against the Red Sox in the past, as he owns a 3-1 record with a 3.05 ERA in six career encounters with Boston. In addition, the native Venezuelan has yet to give up a run in his two previous starts at Fenway Park, having tossed 15 scoreless innings while winning both outings.
The Red Sox hand the ball to 10-game winner Tim Wakefield, with the veteran knuckleballer also carrying a four-decision winning streak into tonight's tilt.
Wakefield put forth one of his best starts of the year Saturday at Atlanta's Turner Field, where he spun six shutout innings in a 1-0 victory over the Braves. He gave up just three hits and walked one over the course of the game.
The 42-year-old has also been quite tough to beat at Fenway, having compiled a 6-0 record with a 3.55 ERA in his seven home starts of 2009. The Red Sox are 12-3 overall in games he's pitched this year.
Wakefield is just 4-9 with a 4.06 ERA in 25 career appearances (15 starts) against Seattle, however, although he defeated the Mariners in Boston with seven innings of two-run ball in June of last season.
The Red Sox had their lead over the second-place Yankees in the AL East extended to three games with Seattle's win last night and enjoyed an off day on Thursday following a wild series in Baltimore. Boston took two of three matchups from the Orioles, but the team's bullpen suffered an epic collapse in a shocking 11-10 defeat on Tuesday. Baltimore scored 10 times over the seventh and eighth innings to rally from a 10-1 deficit.
Boston rebounded with a stirring comeback of its own in Wednesday's finale, putting up four runs in the top of the ninth to force extra innings and earning a 6-5 triumph on Julio Lugo's RBI single in the 11th.
Kevin Youkilis brought the Sox within 5-3 with a two-run homer in the ninth, while Rocco Baldelli delivered a pinch-hit two-RBI single with two outs that tied the contest.
"Obviously we thought we should have won [Tuesday's] game," said Baldelli. "[The Orioles] thought they should have won this game. It was nice to come back and get that win, especially getting on the plane and going home."
The Mariners won two of three games from the Red Sox at Safeco Field from May 15-17 but are just 5-17 over their last 22 visits to Fenway Park. Seattle has not taken a series in Boston since winning two of three tests from August 14-16, 2001.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies limp back home tied atop the NL East after a dreadful road trip. Tonight, they try to improve upon their horrific play in front of their own fans when they open a three-game series against
<< Serena and Venus reach fourth Wimbledon doubles final
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The incomparable Williams sisters,
Serena and Venus, will appear in their fourth Wimbledon doubles final on
Saturday.
The fourth-seeded sisters drilled a top-seeded tandem of Zimbabwe's Cara
<< Cubs' Zambrano takes mound against Milwaukee
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Zambrano takes aim at his first win in five starts
this afternoon when the Chicago Cubs continue their four-game series with the
Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field.
Zambrano was roughed up by the Chicago White S
<< Braves try to stay hot in opener vs. Nats
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves try to push their season-high winning
streak to five games this evening when they open a three-game series with the
lowly Washington Nationals at Nationals Park.
Although it still sits in fourth pl
<< Ramirez, Marlins host Pirates in Miami
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hanley Ramirez will try to stretch his franchise-record RBI
streak to 11 games this evening when the Florida Marlins begin a three-game
series with the Pittsburgh Pirates at Land Shark Stadium.
Florida, meanwhile, has
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joel Pineiro hopes for some run support tonight when the St. Louis Cardinals begin a three-game set with the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Pineiro lost for the ninth time in his last 11 starts on Sun
Rays ride hot streak into Arlington >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays take their hot streak into the Lone
Star State, where the defending American League champions will start up an
intriguing three-game series with the Texas Rangers this evening.
With wins in 15 of their
Santana returns to face Orioles >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have been able to
rebound from a rough beginning to the season. The team is hoping one of its
most talented pitchers will be able to do the same in tonight's matchup with
the Baltimore Orio
Greinke hopes to slow down White Sox >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There haven't been many pitchers who have slowed down the
Chicago White Sox as of late, but Zack Greinke has shown in the past to be
quite capable of such a task.
The Kansas City Royals ace will take the mound in tonight
Twins try to gain ground in Central in opener with Tigers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins have an opportunity to gain some
ground on the division-leading Detroit Tigers when the American League Central
rivals begin a key three-game series tonight at the Metrodome.
The Twins presently trail
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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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2007 NFL Football Betting Preview
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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