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09/04/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- The Seattle Mariners will attempt to build off an impressive pitching performance when the American League West cellar-dwellers take on the Cleveland Indians tonight in the continuation of a four-game series between last-place teams.
After dropping a 6-3 decision to the Tribe on Thursday, the Mariners bounced back with a hard-earned 1-0 victory last night as Luke French combined with a pair of relievers on a three-hit shutout.
French (4-4) carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and finished out the frame having yielded only a single hit along with three walks and striking out four batters. Shelley Duncan foiled the lefty's no-hit bit with a one-out single in the bottom of the seventh.
"It was one of those nights where I was hitting my spots more often than not, to be able to slow them down with the changeup, mix in a few sliders here and there," said French. "Turned out pretty good."
Closer David Aarsdma did run into some trouble in the ninth, letting up a pair of one-out singles before getting Shin-Soo Choo to pop up. The hard-throwing reliever then allowed both runners to advance on a wild pitch, but fanned Duncan for the final out to notch his 27th save.
The game's only run came during the first inning, when Ichiro Suzuki led off with a single and later scored on a base hit off the bat of Franklin Gutierrez.
Indians starter Fausto Carmona (11-14) didn't give up much afterward, surrendering just two more hits and striking out six batters in an eight- inning complete game.
Seattle, which had lost three of four prior to last night's verdict, will hand the ball to David Pauley in hopes of receiving a second straight quality start. The former Red Sox farmhand came through in an August 13 matchup against the Indians, permitting just two runs and scattering seven hits over six innings to register his first career victory in the majors.
Pauley followed up that result with a road win at Baltimore five days later, but has lost back-to-back starts since to fall to 2-6 on the season. The right-hander was reached for four runs in 5 2/3 innings in an August 25 setback at Boston, then served up three homers and four runs overall in a six- inning stint against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim this past Monday.
The 27-year-old is still in search of his first win at Safeco Field, where he's gone 0-4 with a 3.34 ERA in seven appearances (five starts) this year.
Mitch Talbot gets the call for Cleveland tonight and will be trying to end a long and frustrating winless streak. The rookie hurler is 0-5 with a subpar 6.23 ERA in nine starts since his last triumph, a June 27 besting of Cincinnati.
Talbot was hit hard in Monday's assignment against the Chicago White Sox, which tagged him for five runs and 10 hits in a five-inning no-decision. The right-hander allowed six runs in six innings during his previous start, a home loss to Oakland on August 25.
The 26-year-old, who had won eight of his first 14 decisions to begin his debut campaign with the Indians, also struggled in an August 14 encounter with the Mariners at Progressive Field. In that game Talbot was hammered for six runs (four earned) on eight hits in just four innings as the losing pitcher in a 9-3 outcome.
Seattle has now prevailed three of five meetings between these teams this season, but the Indians had won six in a row from the Mariners at Safeco Field prior to last night's defeat.
<< D-Backs host Astros, shoot for fifth straight win
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Recent trade acquisition Joe Saunders tries to make it two
wins in a row for the first time since arriving in Arizona tonight, when the
Diamondbacks meet the Houston Astros in the middle matchup of a three-game
weekend series
<< Tigers vie to break even in matchup with Royals
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers can pull back to .500 in the midst of a
lengthy second-half slump tonight, when they visit Kauffman Stadium for the
second of three weekend games with the host Kansas City Royals.
The Tigers won Friday's
<< Cellar-dwellers face off again in Bucs-Nats clash
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pittsburgh lefty Paul Maholm can make it two straight wins
for the Pirates and end his own four-decision skid tonight, when the
Washington Nationals return to PNC Park for the middle test of a three-game
weekend series.
T
<< Halladay aims to pitch surging Phils past Brewers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roy Halladay goes after win No. 17 this evening, when the
playoff-hopeful Philadelphia Phillies continue their three-game series against
the Milwaukee Brewers at Citizens Bank Park.
Halladay has lost his last two starts, t
Eagles acquire DE Barnes from Ravens >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Eagles acquired defensive
end Antwan Barnes from Baltimore in exchange for an undisclosed draft pick.
Barnes has spent his entire three-year career with the Ravens, appearing in 38
games.
Woods rebounds nicely with a 65 >>
Norton, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tiger Woods shot a five-under 65 in the second
round of the Deutsche Bank Championship on Saturday, matching his lowest round
of the season.
More importantly? Woods played well enough to ensure he makes the 36
Soderling reaches fourth round in Flushing >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two-time French Open runner-up
Robin Soderling was an easy third-round winner Saturday at the U.S. Open.
The fifth-seeded Soderling whipped Dutchman Thiemo De Bakker 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 on
Day 6 at the US
Serbia edges Croatia to reach World Championship quarters >>
Istanbul, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aleksandar Rasic's free throw with one
second left gave Serbia a 73-72 victory over Croatia and berth in the
quarterfinals of the FIBA World Championship.
The Serbs led by seven during the fou
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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The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
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