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05/26/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A well-timed matchup against a National League opponent helped get Chicago's Mark Buehrle on track. Now he'll try to lock down his first road victory of the year and give the White Sox their first series win over the Cleveland Indians this season in the finale of a three-game series this afternoon at Progressive Field.
Buehrle snapped a six-start winless drought (0-5) on Friday with a victory over the Marlins, allowing just three hits and three walks over eight scoreless innings in his first win since April 11. He improved to 3-5 on the season while lowering his earned run average to 4.55.
The lefty will now try to claim his first 2010 victory outside of the Windy City, as he is 0-4 with a 6.46 ERA in four road starts. One of those came at Progressive Field on April 16 as he allowed six runs, half of them earned, on six hits and four walks over six innings.
Buehrle, though, did best Cleveland at home back on April 5 with seven shutout innings of three-run ball, and the 31-year-old is 12-15 lifetime against the Indians with a 4.56 ERA.
He beat Jake Westbrook back on April 5 and will look to do so again tonight. The right-handed Westbrook allowed five runs on five hits and four walks over four innings in the loss, then got a no-decision 12 days later at home versus the White Sox despite seven innings of two-run ball. He is 8-12 with a 5.00 ERA in his career versus Chicago.
After consecutive winning starts in which he allowed just one run in both outings, Westbrook got a no-decision versus the Reds on Friday, yielding four runs on seven hits over five innings of a game his club lost 7-4. The 32-year- old is 2-2 with a 4.56 ERA this year and has posted a 5.17 ERA in three starts at home without a decision.
The White Sox were able to take the opener of this series on Monday with a 7-2 victory, but the Indians evened this series last night with a 7-3 triumph. Jason Donald and Shin-Soo Choo hit solo homers in the third inning to help back Mitch Talbot, who hurled seven innings of two-run ball.
"My command with almost every pitch was good," Talbot said. "I was getting ahead of the hitters."
Donald, who is playing at shortstop in place of the injured Asdrubal Cabrera (left forearm), hit the first homer of his career in his eighth game since being recalled from the minors, while Choo blasted his seventh homer of the season and third in his last five games.
Travis Hafner added two hits and a run scored last night in just Cleveland's second victory in its last nine games. Hafner is hitting .378 (17-for-45) over a 12-game hitting streak with a homer and six RBI, but is batting just .207 (12-for-58) lifetime versus Buehrle with two homers, eight RBI and 15 strikeouts.
Jake Peavy was banged up for six runs on eight hits over six innings in the loss for the White Sox, who have dropped six of eight versus the Indians this year, including four of five at Progressive Field.
"I just didn't have very good stuff at all," Peavy said. "When you're not sharp you better be good with location. I made some bad pitches early."
Alexei Ramirez had a pair of doubles and drove in a run in the setback, while Andruw Jones and Mark Kotsay both had an RBI.
<< Cardinals, Padres continue set between division leaders
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie left-hander Jaime Garcia goes after his fifth win of
the season when the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres resume their
three-game set this evening at Petco Park.
Garcia has been a pleasant surprise for the C
<< Jimenez goes for win No. 9 as Rockies host D-Backs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ubaldo Jimenez tries to become the first nine-game winner
in the majors this evening, when the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks
continue a three-game set at Coors Field.
Jimenez was again dominant this past Thursd
<< Federer, Soderling roll into third round at French Open
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning champion Roger Federer and last
year's runner-up Robin Soderling were a pair of second-round winners Wednesday
at the French Open.
The top-seeded/world No. 1 Federer had to wait out some rain delay
<< Oswalt tries to end skid in Astros' bout with Brewers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roy Oswalt's tenure in Houston appears to be nearing the
end. Tonight, though, he will try for his first win in six starts when the
Astros continue their three-game set with the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller
Park.
Oswalt re
Orioles shoot for series win over A's >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manager David Trembley saw his Orioles put together one of
their best games of the season that, funny enough, came against an Athletics
club that they have struggled against over the last few seasons.
Baltimore will t
In the FCS Huddle: Top 10 FCS Offensive Linemen >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Members of the Student-Athlete Advisory
Committee at Villanova are responsible for being liaisons between their
teammates, coaches and athletic administration. Their guidelines say they must
be willing to be
Spring racing at Pimlico shows decline in handle >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The recently concluded spring race meet at
Pimlico Race Course showed a noticeable drop in wagering from 2009. The
Maryland Jockey Club announced that average wagering figures were down nearly
nine pe
Woods among British Open champs to compete in Champions' Challenge >>
St. Andrews, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tiger Woods is among 28 former
British Open winners that have accepted invitations to compete in a four-hole
challenge event the day before the start of this year's championship.
The 150th B
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.
Seriously.
The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.
The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.
Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."
The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.
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