A-Rod tries once again for 600th home run in Cleveland
Baseball Betting Lines
07/29/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With Alex Rodriguez still on the verge of reaching one of baseball's most exclusive milestones, the New York Yankees will wrap up a four-game series with the Cleveland Indians tonight at Progressive Field.
Rodriguez remains one home run shy of becoming only the seventh player in major league history to hit 600 for his career. The superstar third baseman has now gone six games and 26 at-bats since belting No. 599 in a 10-4 win over Kansas City on July 22.
The three-time MVP still made a significant contribution to the Yankees' 8-0 rout of the Indians last night, going 2-for-5 and knocking in his team's first run with a first-inning single.
Robinson Cano did deliver a solo home run for New York, while Mark Teixeira and Brett Gardner each went 2-for-4 with two RBI to help back a strong effort from starting pitcher A.J. Burnett.
Burnett (9-8) scattered seven hits and struck out seven Cleveland batters over the first 6 1/3 innings to win his second straight start and lead the Yankees to their sixth victory in their past eight contests. New York owns the best record in the majors at 64-36, two games better than fellow American League East member Tampa Bay.
"He was locating his fastball to the corners as well as I've ever seen it," Indians designated hitter Travis Hafner said of Burnett. "Then late in the count he was throwing the curveball and getting some strikeouts. He was good [Wednesday]."
Fausto Carmona (10-8) was far less effective for Cleveland, as the 2010 All- Star was hammered for seven runs and 10 hits before being lifted after only 2 2/3 innings.
"I think the key for us was swinging at strikes," said Rodriguez. "After the first two innings [Carmona] had 40-plus pitches. That's always a key for us is to make him throw as many pitches as we can. Even when we make outs, make productive outs."
Rodriguez will be taking his swings tonight off Mitch Talbot in the Cleveland rookie's second-ever encounter with the Yankees. The young right-hander was dealt a loss in an 11-2 road setback to New York on May 31 after allowing three runs over 6 1/3 innings, with Rodriguez coming through with an RBI single in two official at-bats against the Indians starter.
Talbot enters tonight's clash mired in a lengthy slump, as he's dropped five of six decisions since a surprising 7-4 beginning to the season and has posted a mediocre 5.01 ERA over his last seven starts. He served up two homers and was tagged for five runs in 5 2/3 innings of a home loss to Tampa Bay last Saturday, despite registering a career-best eight strikeouts.
The 26-year-old has recorded a respectable 4.08 ERA in his first season with the Indians, however. Talbot was acquired by Cleveland from the Rays in a trade this past winter.
New York will give Dustin Moseley his first start of the year tonight as the team searches for a temporary fill-in for the injured Andy Pettitte. The right-hander has made four relief appearances for the Yankees since being called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre earlier this month, including a excellent 4 2/3-inning stint against Kansas City on Saturday in which he yielded no runs and only a single hit.
Moseley took over in that game for Sergio Mitre, who was rocked for seven runs (five earned) and seven hits over the first 4 1/3 frames and sent to the bullpen as a result of that shaky showing.
The 28-year-old Moseley does have major-league starting experience, having begun 23 games during a four-year tenure with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim from 2006-09. He also has good lifetime numbers against Cleveland, sporting a 3-0 record with a 4.35 ERA in three starts and two relief outings versus the Tribe.
New York took three of four games from the Indians in a late-May series at Yankee Stadium and has prevailed in nine of the last 12 clashes between the teams. In their only visit to Cleveland last season, the Yankees won three of four tests from the Tribe.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After coming through with a much-needed victory on Wednesday, the Oakland Athletics will try to gain further ground on the American League West-leading Texas Rangers when the divisional rivals wrap up a three-game series toni
<< Newcastle defender Taylor to miss three months
Newcastle, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Newcastle center back Steven Taylor will
be sidelined three months with a shoulder injury, the English Premier League
club revealed Thursday.
Taylor, 24, dislocated the shoulder in a preseason friendly
<< White Sox put home streak on line in finale with Mariners
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox try for their first 11-game home
winning streak in 21 years this evening, when they attempt to complete a four-
game sweep of the Seattle Mariners at U.S. Cellular Field.
Chicago won for the 17th time
<< Phils shoot for eighth straight win, sweep of D-Backs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Philadelphia Phillies wait for Roy Oswalt to
approve a trade to them, they will shoot for a three-game sweep of the Arizona
Diamondbacks tonight at Citizens Bank Park.
According to multiple reports, the Phillies
<< Padres send out Latos in hopes of taking set from Dodgers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mat Latos attempts to win his seventh straight decision
this evening, when the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers close out a
three-game series at Petco Park.
Latos, who had recently been sidelined with a strained le
Aberdeen, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aberdeen signed Scotland midfielder Paul Hartley on Thursday. Hartley, who has played 25 times for Scotland, was named Aberdeen's captain. He last played for Bristol City, and played at Celtic from 200
Southern Illinois adds six players, two from FBS >>
Carbondale, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Southern Illinois football team has added
six players to its 2010 roster.
Highlighting the group are Football Bowl Subdivision transfers Carl Harris, a
wide receiver from Rutgers, and Myron Walker, a nos
Nationals decide to put Strasburg on DL >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals have decided to
put rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg on the 15-day disabled list with stiffness
in his shoulder.
Strasburg is expected to rest for the next 3-to-4 days and have
A sad, tragic end in Memphis >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A body riddled with bullets was found in
Southeast Memphis Wednesday afternoon in a thickly wooded area near FedEx's
world headquarters.
It was just another sad ending in a city that has become notorious f
Vince Young to avoid discipline by NFL >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young
will reportedly escape punishment by the NFL for his part in a fight at a
Dallas strip club last month.
The Tennessean cited unnamed sources ahead of
Big 12 Conference betting odds
Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State
Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.
Work left to do:
Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.
Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.
Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.
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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.