Cubs' Ramirez earns NL weekly honors
Baseball Betting Lines
07/26/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez has been named the National League Player of the Week for the period ending July 25.
The 32-year-old slugger hit .360 and his four home runs tied for the lead in the majors in six games last week. Ramirez also ended with 10 runs batted in, which ranked second. In addition, the Dominican added a .393 on-base percentage and .840 slugging percentage.
His best game came on Tuesday when Ramirez cracked three homers and tied a career-best with seven RBI in a 14-7 victory over the Houston Astros.
It is Ramirez's third career weekly award, but first since earning co-Player of the Week honors from July 18-24, 2005.
Other nominees for the weekly award included Ramirez's teammates Starlin Castro and Derrek Lee, Pittsburgh's Pedro Alvarez, Atlanta's Jason Heyward and Brian McCann, St. Louis' John Jay, San Francisco's Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner and Brian Wilson, Houston's Angel Sanchez and Wandy Rodriguez, Arizona's Justin Upton, Cincinnatis Joey Votto and Johnny Cueto, Milwaukee's Rickie Weeks, San Diego's Heath Bell, the Dodgers' Chad Billingsley and Washington's Livan Hernandez.
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baltimore Orioles outfielder Luke Scott has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending July 25. Scott hit an AL-leading four home runs and added three doubles and eight runs
<< Haren to make Angels debut Monday
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Haren will make his Angels debut Monday
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Diamondbacks.
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<< Aggies' WR coach Kragthorpe resigns to tend to family issues
College Station, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas A&M wide receivers coach Steve
Kragthorpe has resigned to tend to family medical issues, the school announced
Monday.
Kragthorpe joined the Texas A&M staff in February after head coac
<< Overdue Fish finally hits his stride
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota native Mardy Fish is currently
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years ago.
Don't look now, but the 28-year-old American has now won his last two
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New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Zakuani of Seattle Sounders FC was
voted Major League Soccer Player of the Week for Week 17 of the 2010 MLS
season on Monday.
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Istanbul, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - French Open champion Francesca Schiavone will have to wait until Tuesday to complete her opening-round match at the $220,000 Istanbul Cup tennis event. The top-seeded Schiavone was leading Brit Anne
OVC still trying to leap playoff hurdle >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There is so much for cornerback CJ James to
bask in regarding Eastern Illinois' football 2009 season.
From playing before 104,000 fans at Penn State to winning on the road at rival
Jacksonville State to havin
Schneider, Blanton help Phils complete sweep of Rockies >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Schneider hit a two-run triple and
Joe Blanton threw six solid innings, as the Philadelphia Phillies held on to
complete a four-game sweep of Colorado with a 5-4 victory.
Blanton (4-6) struggle
Toronto officially signs Kleiza >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Raptors have signed forward
Linas Kleiza to a multi-year contract.
Per team policy, no details of the deal were announced.
The Raptors had signed Kleiza to an offer sheet that was not m
Bulls' sign Kurt Thomas >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls made it official on Monday by
signing veteran forward Kurt Thomas.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, per team policy.
The 37-year-old Thomas, a first-round draft pick by Miami in 1995
Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa
Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.
Should be in:
Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?
Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.
Work left to do:
Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.
Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.
Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.
Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.
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