Angels return home to host Orioles
Baseball Betting Lines
07/02/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels return home from a six-day road trip in first place in the American League West. The two-time defending division champions will try to stay on top when they start up a four-game series with the Baltimore Orioles tonight at Angel Stadium.
The Angels started their six-game trek trailing Texas by a half-game for the West's top spot, but moved 2 1/2 games in front of the reeling Rangers after winning the first four tests of the jaunt. That lead has since dwindled to a half-game after losing twice to Texas over the past two days.
The Rangers closed the gap with a wild 9-7 victory on Wednesday, with Hank Blalock's two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning accounting for the winning margin.
Anaheim fought back from an early six-run deficit and had tied the contest at 7-7 on Juan Rivera's three-run blast with two outs in the top of the ninth. However, Justin Speier (3-2) allowed a leadoff single to Michael Young in the bottom of the frame before serving up Blalock's walkoff blast three batters later.
Torii Hunter came through with a two-run double in the seventh inning to aid the Angels' comeback, while Vladimir Guerrero finished 3-for-4 with a run scored in the loss.
Baltimore is also coming off a frustrating defeat on Wednesday. The Orioles coughed up a four-run ninth-inning lead against Boston, then wound up on the wrong end of a 6-5 decision when the Red Sox' Julio Lugo singled home a run in the top of the 11th inning.
Boston's rally capped a wacky three-game series between the teams. Baltimore lost two of those matchups, but orchestrated the greatest comeback in franchise history on Tuesday. The Orioles overcame a nine-run deficit by scoring 10 times over the seventh and eighth innings for an 11-10 win.
On Wednesday, Baltimore carried a 5-1 lead into the ninth inning before faltering. Reliever Jim Johnson gave up a two-run homer to Kevin Youkilis that pulled Boston within two, then the Red Sox loaded the bases on closer George Sherrill before Rocco Baldelli delivered a game-tying two-RBI single.
The loss spoiled an outstanding start from Orioles rookie Brad Bergesen, who gave up just one run and four hits and struck out six over the first eight innings.
Nick Markakis had a two-run double for Baltimore, which received solo homers from Luke Scott and Ty Wigginton as well.
The Orioles will try to put Wednesday's disappointment behind them as they begin a seven-game West Coast trip tonight. They'll tab Jeremy Guthrie, a winner in his last two starts, to pitch this evening's opener.
Guthrie ended a string of three straight losing starts after yielding one run and three hits over seven innings to down Philadelphia on June 21. He wasn't as effective in Saturday's encounter with Washington, but still managed a victory after giving up three runs over five innings in Baltimore's 5-3 ousting of the Nationals.
For the season, Guthrie is 6-7 with a 5.11 earned run average in 16 starts. Much of the right-hander's troubles have come on the road, where's he compiled a 2-3 record with a subpar 6.96 ERA in six starts.
Guthrie has made four previous appearances, three of which have been starts, against Anaheim and is 1-1 with a 3.47 ERA in those games. He's 1-0 in two visits to Angel Stadium, though, and allowed just four runs (3 earned) over 15 innings pitched there.
John Lackey takes the mound for the Angels and hopes to build off a very encouraging last start. The burly right-hander limited Arizona to one unearned run and struck out nine Diamondbacks over seven innings this past Saturday, although he wound up with a no-decision in an eventual 2-1 Anaheim win.
Lackey has won at least 12 games for the Angels in each of the past six seasons, but is only 2-3 in nine starts this year while missing some time due to an elbow issue. He's also posted a career-worst 5.06 ERA thus far and opponents are hitting .317 against him.
The 30-year-old does own a 6-3 career record with a 3.46 ERA over 10 starts against Baltimore, although he last pitched against the Orioles in 2007.
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 4-12 in Anaheim since the start of the 2006 campaign.
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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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