Santana returns to face Orioles
Baseball Betting Lines
07/03/2009 - (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 Orioles at Angel Stadium.
Ervin Santana won a career-high 16 games for the Angels and ranked second in the American League with 214 strikeouts a year ago, earning a spot on the AL All-Star team in the process. The hard-throwing right-hander hasn't been able to achieve the same success so far during an injury-plagued 2009 campaign, however.
Santana has made just six starts for Anaheim this season due to recurring arm issues and has gone 1-3 with a subpar 7.47 earned run average during those games. Opponents are batting a robust .344 off him for the year.
The 26-year-old was placed on the disabled list for the second time this season after being tagged for six runs and eight hits over 4 2/3 innings of a June 11 loss at Tampa Bay. He appeared quite healthy, however, in a rehab start for the Angels' Rookie League team this past Sunday, when Santana struck out seven over a 3 1/3 scoreless-inning stint.
Santana will be facing the Orioles for the eighth time in his career and owns a 2-2 record with a 4.60 ERA lifetime against Baltimore.
He'll be attempting to pitch the American League West-leading Angels to an eighth victory in 10 games this evening. In Thursday's opener of this four- game set, Bobby Abreu bashed a pair of home runs and John Lackey delivered eight strong innings in Anaheim's 5-2 triumph over Baltimore.
Abreu knocked in four of the Angels' five runs in the game, with Chone Figgins driving home the other with an RBI single en route to a 3-for-4 performance at the plate.
Lackey (3-3) did his part as well, limiting the Orioles to a pair of runs and just four hits while striking out seven. Brian Fuentes closed things out in the ninth to notch his major league-best 23rd save of the year.
"I established the fastball pretty good tonight," said Lackey. "I mixed my pitches well and located my fastball."
Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie (6-8) was saddled with the loss after surrendering five runs on nine hits over seven innings of work.
The Orioles, who have now dropped four of their last five contests, received a solo home run from Luke Scott and an RBI single by Matt Wieters on the evening.
Anaheim has gone 14-5 since June 12 and presently holds a one-game edge on Texas for first place in the AL West standings.
The red-hot Angels will get their first look tonight at Baltimore rookie David Hernandez, with the young right-hander set to make his fourth start and fifth overall appearance in the majors.
Hernandez is 1-2 with a 4.19 ERA over a span of 19 1/3 innings during his brief time at the big-league level. The 24-year-old was recently recalled from the minors to fill in for injured starter Koji Uehara and allowed three runs and eight hits over 5 2/3 frames in a loss to Washington this past Sunday.
The California native had started twice and pitched once in relief with the Orioles before being sent down in early June, and earned his first major- league win on May 28 by holding Detroit to one run through 5 2/3 innings.
The Angels swept a two-game series from the Orioles at Camden Yards back in April and went 6-3 against Baltimore last season. The O's are just 4-13 in Anaheim since the start of the 2006 campaign.
(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
<< Cardinals send Pineiro to hill in Cincinnati
(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
<< King Felix goes for Mariners at Fenway
(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 acquitte
<< Road-weary Phils return home to host Mets
(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
(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
Reeling Indians try to get back on track vs. A's >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians have been playing poorly since mid-
June and will try to stop a five-game losing streak tonight in the opener of a
three-game series versus the Oakland Athletics at Progressive Field.
The Indians have
Rockies to open homestand with last-place Diamondbacks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies are back home after a lengthy road
trip and will open a three-game series tonight against the National League
West-rival Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field.
Colorado went 5-4 on a nine-game road swing
Federer reaches record seventh straight Wimbledon final >>
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Five-time champion Roger Federer
defeated Tommy Haas in Friday's men's semifinal action at Wimbledon. The
iconic Federer will now appear in a men's record seventh straight Wimbledon
final on Sunday.
Football Betting
NFL Football Betting OnlineThe San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook
Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds. The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.
Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.
Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).
Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.
World Series odds
Adam Dunn 15-1
Albert Pujols 5-1
Alex Rodriguez 12-1
Alfonso Soriano 15-1
Andruw Jones 25-1
Barry Bonds 50-1
Carlos Delgado 40-1
David Ortiz 8-1
Jermaine Dye 40-1
Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1
Lance Berkman 40-1
Manny Ramirez 20-1
Richie Sexson 40-1
Ryan Howard 6-1
Travis Hafner 20-1
Vladimir Guerrero 40-1
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.