Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
06/17/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros will try to finish off a roller-coaster road trip on a positive note in tonight's rubber match of a three-game interleague series with the Kansas City Royals from Kauffman Stadium.
Houston began its 10-game, three-city swing by taking three of four matchups with 2009 postseason participant Colorado before losing its next four contests, including a 15-7 shellacking at the hands of the Royals in Tuesday's series opener. The Astros regrouped with a 4-2 decision last night in which Jason Michaels knocked in three runs to back seven effective innings out of ace Roy Oswalt.
Michaels stroked a two-run single in the top of the fourth inning to give Houston a 3-2 advantage, then added an RBI double in the sixth to extend the margin to two runs. That was enough for Oswalt (5-8), who limited the Royals to two runs and struck out seven in a strong 106-pitch effort.
"I was going up there wanting to be aggressive and just go from there," said Michaels of his performance.
Carlos Lee had an RBI single in the first inning for Houston, which had lost six straight in interleague play coming in.
Wednesday's loss, just the second in the past six games for the Royals, spoiled a terrific night at the plate for David DeJesus. The outfielder collected four hits in four at-bats and knocked in one of the team's two runs.
Over his last four games, DeJesus has gone 11-for-15 with a homer and five RBI.
"It's the same approach every at-bat," he said afterward. "Don't try to do too much. Just try and stay confident and trust myself."
Scott Podsednik ended 2-for-4 with two runs scored for Kansas City, while starting pitcher Bruce Chen (3-1) allowed four runs (three earned) and struck out six in 5 2/3 innings.
Houston will hand the ball to Brett Myers as it vies for a series win tonight. The former Philadelphia Phillie has been a solid addition to the Astros rotation, having produced a very respectable 3.18 earned run average in addition to a 4-4 record over his first 13 starts of 2010. He's also been a model of consistency, having worked at least six innings in each of those appearances.
Myers wasn't overly sharp at the beginning of his most recent outing, however, allowing three first-inning runs to the New York Yankees this past Friday. The right-hander settled down to hold the Bronx Bombers to just one more run over the remainder of his seven-frame stint, although he still wound up with the loss in a 4-3 verdict.
Prior to that setback, Myers had gone 2-0 with an outstanding 1.69 ERA over a four-start span from May 21-June 6.
This will be the 29-year-old's first-ever encounter with the Royals. Myers is just 1-4 with a 3.51 ERA through six road starts this season, but the Astros have scored three runs or less in each of those losses.
Kansas City had planned to send out Luke Hochevar for the finale, but the former No. 1 overall draft choice was forced to the disabled list on Wednesday due to an elbow strain. The Royals brought up Anthony Lerew from Triple-A Omaha yesterday to take both his spot on the roster and place in the rotation.
Lerew will be taking another crack at earning his first major league win tonight. The right-hander has pitched in 14 games and made five starts with the Royals and Atlanta and is 0-3 with a 6.69 ERA at the big-league level. None of those games have come against the Astros.
The 27-year-old had been pitching well in the minors prior to the promotion, having compiled a 5-3 record with a 2.84 ERA in 14 appearances (11 starts) with Omaha. In his most recent mound trip, Lerew yielded one unearned run and just three hits to defeat Nashville on Sunday.
Kansas City won two of three bouts from Houston when these teams met at Minute Maid Park last season. The Astros are 10-4 all-time as the visitor in this series, however.
<< Braves, Rays wrap up set between first-place clubs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bragging rights between two first-place teams from the
South will be at stake when the Atlanta Braves and Tampa Bay Rays wrap up an
intriguing three-game interleague series tonight at Turner Field.
The American League East
<< In the FCS Huddle: Ivy League supports mourning brethren at Penn
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One of the many condolence cards that was
sent to Owen Thomas' family was signed by members of the Brown football team.
It was the Bears' way, head coach Phil Estes says, "to let them know that
Brown football
<< Mets shoot for back-to-back road sweeps in Cleveland
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hitting the road to face a pair of last-place teams has
helped the Mets find their road game. They also may have found a hidden gem in
knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.
Dickey will go for his fifth winning start in a row this e
<< Tigers, Bonderman go for another sweep of Nationals
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It was the Tigers' Jeremy Bonderman who finished off a
sweep of the Nationals when these teams last met three years ago. He will get
a shot at doing it again this afternoon in the finale of a three-game series
between Detro
Henin cruises into Den Bosch semis >>
's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former champion
Justine Henin highlighted Thursday's quarterfinal winners at the $220,000
Unicef Open, a final grass-court Wimbledon tuneup.
The top-seeded former worl
Roughriders extend WR Dressler >>
Regina, SK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Saskatchewan Roughriders have signed wide
receiver Weston Dressler to a contract extension, the team announced Thursday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Dressler signed with the Roughriders in 200
Stosur wins; Clijsters falls in Eastbourne >>
Eastbourne, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - French Open runner-up Samantha
Stosur reached the semifinals, while former world No. 1 star Kim
Clijsters came up a quarterfinal loser Thursday at the $600,000 Aegon
Interna
Rangers hope to break the brooms out on Marlins >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Hamilton never got a chance to shine under the Florida
sun as a member of the Rays. The Rangers slugger has made up for lost time in
this series.
Hamilton will try to extend his 12-game hitting streak this evening whe
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.
To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
MySportsbook.com is the Internet’s largest online sportsbook site serving customers in more than 80 countries worldwide. Founded in 1997, MySportsbook.com was the first sports book to introduce reduced margin wagering, using a -105 pricing model that gives bettors up to 50% better value on wagers than traditional bookmakers. With low minimum bet requirements and the highest maximum limits on the Web, MySportsbook.com has earned an industry leading reputation for providing consistent value to the player, professional customer service and the quickest payouts online. Fully licensed and regulated in Antigua and the UK, the company offers a secure environment for sports betting, horse racing and online casino games.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts credit cards needs.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting