Yankees rough up Royals
Baseball Betting Lines
07/23/2010 - Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robinson Cano went 2-for-4 with a three-run double in the first inning, as the New York Yankees roughed up the Kansas City Royals, 7-1, in the second installment of a four-game series.
Alex Rodriguez, who hit his 599th career home run in Thursday's series opener, finished 2-for-4 with a walk Friday. While Rodriguez did not homer, Jorge Posada recorded the 1,000th RBI of his career.
Brett Gardner added two hits and two RBI for the Yankees, who have won three in a row.
A.J. Burnett (8-8) pitched five shutout innings before a lengthy rain delay forced both teams to change pitchers. Chad Gaudin allowed a run in three relief innings after the game resumed.
Royals starter Brian Bannister (7-9) gave up four runs on six hits and two walks in 4 2/3 innings and took the loss, Kansas City's ninth in its last 11 games.
Bannister entered the game with a 15.07 ERA in four career starts against the Yankees, and continued to struggle in the first inning.
Gardner doubled and moved to third on an error by right fielder Alex Gordon, who was recalled from Triple-A Omaha on Friday and made his first major league start in the outfield. Gordon began the season in the majors as a third baseman, but was sent down to the minors to convert to an outfielder.
With Gardner on third, Derek Jeter grounded out before Mark Teixeira was hit by a pitch. Rodriguez came up next for his first chance at No. 600, but walked to load the bases for Cano, who stroked a double to left-center to make it 3-0.
Posada, who entered the game with 999 career runs batted in, doubled to plate Cano and reach the milestone.
Bannister settled down from there, but in the bottom of the fifth the game was interrupted by rain. Nearly an hour and a half later, the teams resumed play, and Victor Marte took over for Bannister.
Marte got the final out of the fifth, but gave up two runs in the sixth. With runners on second and third with two away, Gardner singled to left to make it a 6-0 game.
Posada's RBI single in the seventh extended the Yankees' lead, but in the eighth, consecutive doubles by Rick Ankiel and Yuniesky Betancourt provided Kansas City's only run.
Rodriguez had five plate appearances Friday. Following his first-inning walk, the third baseman singled in the third, struck out in the fifth, singled in the seventh and grounded out in the eighth.
Game Notes
Despite his start being curtailed by rain, Burnett rebounded from his last outing. The right-hander had given up four runs in two innings against Tampa Bay...Bannister has lost four consecutive decisions, and has given up at least four runs in each of his last five starts.
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Legendary broadcaster Bob Uecker made his return to the booth on Friday, when the Brewers began a three-game series versus Washington. The 75-year-old underwent successful heart surgery on April 30
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Joey Votto was 3-for-4 with a home run, walked and scored
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Clermont, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ron Hornaday Jr. snapped a 22-race winless
streak in the Camping World Truck Series with an impressive performance in
Friday's AAA Insurance 200 at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.
Hornaday Jr.,
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Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Donnie Murphy had the game-winning pinch-hit
single in the ninth to cap a wild back-and-forth 7-6 Marlins win to open a
three-game series with the Braves.
Billy Wagner (5-1) was called on to protect a
<< Parker's INT return for TD lifts Argos over Lions
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Byron Parker's 41-yard interception return for
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Toronto Argonauts came back to defeat the British Columbia Lions, 24-20, at
the Rog
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Corey Hart left Friday's game against Washington due to an injured right wrist. Hart was given a rare day off on Thursday and tripled in his first at-bat in his return. How
Edmonds powers Brewers past Nationals >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jim Edmonds entered as an injury replacement
for Corey Hart early in the game and went 2-for-3 with three RBI, including
the go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning, to lift Milwaukee to a 7-5
win ove
Indians extend home win streak against Rays >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fausto Carmona allowed just one unearned run
in five strong innings, as the Indians extended their home dominance of the
Tampa Bay Rays with a 3-1 win in a rain-shortened, seven-inning affair at
Progres
Wife of former Steelers coach Cowher dies >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kaye Cowher, the wife of former Pittsburgh
Steelers head coach Bill Cowher, reportedly died Friday at the age of 54.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports Kaye died in her native North Carolina
after a
Diamondbacks' Kelly Johnson hits for cycle >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Kelly
Johnson became the fourth player in team history to hit for the cycle Friday
against the Giants.
Johnson homered in the first inning and was hit by a pitc
Online Sportsbook Football Betting
Colts give the ‘D’ its due
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.”
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards
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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.