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07/30/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox have been an awfully tough team to beat over the past two months, and the current American League Central leaders have been virtually invincible at U.S. Cellular Field during that time period.
Chicago will attempt to extend its home winning streak to 12 consecutive games when the Oakland Athletics invade the Windy City tonight for the first of three straight meetings between the teams.
The White Sox continued their home dominance with Thursday's 9-5 victory over Seattle, which completed a four-game sweep for Ozzie Guillen's club. Chicago is now an astounding 18-1 at U.S. Cellular Field since June 9, and the team's 11-game surge is its longest as the host since the White Sox ripped off 13 straight wins at Comiskey Park from July 1-August 5, 1989.
"We come in believing we can win that game tonight -- no matter who we're facing," said first baseman Paul Konerko. "We just got into a good groove a while back of just coming in and playing nine innings as hard as we can."
Chicago mashed its way to its latest triumph, as Ramon Castro belted two solo home runs as part of a 3-for-4 night and Konerko and Carlos Quentin had back- to-back blasts in the seventh inning to put the game out of reach. Juan Pierre added a two-run double for the White Sox, while Omar Vizquel went 3-for-4 and also knocked in a pair of runs in the win.
The offensive outburst helped Freddy Garcia (10-4) record his 10th win of the season, with the ex-Mariner giving up three runs on seven hits over the first six innings.
Thursday's win extended the White Sox' lead over second-place Minnesota to 1 1/2 games in the AL Central standings.
Dan Hudson will try to keep Chicago rolling when he takes the mound for tonight's series opener. The well-regarded rookie also seeks to avenge a loss to the Athletics in his last start, a 6-4 setback last Sunday in which the young right-hander was tagged for five runs and issued four walks in five innings.
However, there is a good chance Hudson does not even make this start, as he is rumored to be heading to Arizona for right-hander Edwin Jackson.
Hudson performed much better in his previous outing, holding Seattle's anemic offense to a run while striking out six batters over 6 2/3 innings on July 19 to record his second career major league win. He's still had his struggles since taking over for the injured Jake Peavy in the Chicago rotation, though, registering a 6.32 ERA in three starts and walking 11 batters in 15 2/3 innings of work.
The 23-year-old also had a rough go-around in a relief appearance against Oakland last September, with Hudson reached for two runs and five hits in a 2 1/3-inning stay.
The Athletics did take two of three bouts from the White Sox in Oakland this past weekend, but couldn't follow up with a road series win over AL West front-runner Texas. After the divisional foes split the first two games of the set, the Rangers claimed last night's rubber match by a 7-4 count.
Vin Mazzaro (6-3) had a string of four straight winning decisions halted after the A's starter was battered for seven runs and 12 hits in 5 1/3 innings.
"They have a really good lineup, and you almost want to be perfect," Mazzaro said of the Rangers. "I had a tough one [Thursday], so I'll bounce back and get ready for the next start."
Rajai Davis went 2-for-5 with an RBI single for Oakland, which has still won 10 of its last 14 contests despite Thursday's setback. Kevin Kouzmanoff and Matt Carson also finished with a pair of hits in the loss.
The Athletics have been successful at U.S. Cellular Field in the recent past, having prevailed in four of six matchups with the White Sox there last season. Oakland has also won seven of the past 11 overall tilts in the series.
Oakland plans to hand the ball to Brett Anderson for the oft-injured youngster's first major-league start since June 3. The talented left-hander has spent two stints on the disabled list and been limited to six starts this season due to elbow problems, but pronounced himself ready to go by striking out nine over 5 1/3 shutout innings in a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento on Sunday.
When healthy, Anderson has been excellent for the A's this year. The 22-year- old has produced a 2.35 ERA over his six starts with the big club and hasn't allowed a home run in 30 2/3 innings, while walking only four batters during that stretch. He's yielded one run or fewer in four of those appearances.
In his only previous start at U.S. Cellular Field, Anderson spun seven shutout innings to defeat the White Sox during an 11-win rookie campaign in 2009.
<< Slumping Diamondbacks visit Mets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The slumping Arizona Diamondbacks head to New York in hopes
of notching a rare road win when they open a three-game weekend series with
the Mets at Citi Field.
The Diamondbacks, now 24 games off the pace in the National Le
<< Yankees open key set with Rays; A-Rod tries again for 600th homer
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez's quest to become the youngest player in
baseball history with 600 home runs takes him to St. Petersburg where the New
York Yankees open a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana
Field.
Ro
<< Tigers hope to stop road skid in clash with Red Sox
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers are quickly falling out of contention in
the American League Central. Tonight, they try to put the brakes on their 10-
game road losing streak when they open a three-game series against the Boston
Red Sox a
<< Blue Jays seek fourth straight victory in opener with Indians
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays take aim at their fourth straight win
this evening when they open a three-game series against the Cleveland Indians
at Rogers Centre.
Toronto started its six-game homestand in impressive fashion, as i
Twins return home to face Mariners >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off a wildly successful road trip, the surging
Minnesota Twins return to Target Field this evening to play the first of three
consecutive matchups with the Seattle Mariners.
The Twins are back home after going 6-1 on
Division leaders square off in Cincinnati >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of National League divisional front-runners get
together for a potential playoff preview tonight when the Central-leading
Cincinnati Reds host the East-leading Atlanta Braves in the first of three at
Great American Ba
2010 FBS Positional Analysis: Linebackers >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - They are free to roam the middle of the
field, looking to lay the lumber on the ball-carriers and receivers that dare
to enter their domain. The job of the linebacker is to be instinctual, to be in
the right
Flames ink White >>
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Calgary Flames signed defenseman Ian White
to a one-year contract on Friday.
White was part of the blockbuster deal at last season's trade deadline that
saw blueliner Dion Phaneuf heading from Calgar
Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.
The 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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