Greinke hopes to slow down White Sox
Baseball Betting Lines
07/03/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There haven't been many pitchers who have slowed down the Chicago White Sox as of late, but Zack Greinke has shown in the past to be quite capable of such a task.
The Kansas City Royals ace will take the mound in tonight's second test of a four-game series with the visiting White Sox, who will be out to extend their season-best winning streak to seven games.
Chicago maintained its recent high level of play by besting the Royals by a 4-1 count in Thursday's opener of this set. The win was the 13th in the last 17 contests for the White Sox, who have closed within 2 1/2 games of Detroit for first place in the American League Central.
Mark Buehrle (8-2) was the difference for Chicago in last night's triumph, as the steady southpaw took a shutout into the ninth inning and yielded just one run on six hits before exiting after 8 1/3 frames.
"I had everything working," Buehrle said. "I changed my sinker grip in the bullpen. The last two or three games [catcher A.J. Pierzynski] says it's been cutting, but not sinking. So I put my fingers closer together and it was one of the best sinkers I've had in a while."
Jayson Nix went 2-for-4 with a solo home run for the White Sox, while Jim Thome also collected a pair of hits and scored once in the victory.
David DeJesus spoiled Buehrle's shutout bid with a one-out double in the bottom of the ninth. Royals starter Bruce Chen (0-2) worked six solid innings in a losing cause, with the journeyman allowing just two runs on five hits and striking out five.
Kansas City, losers of three in a row and 11 of its last 15 games, will turn to Greinke to lift the team out of its rut. The standout right-hander has usually come through when called upon, as his 10-3 record and major league- best 1.95 earned run average will attest. He's been especially dominant at home, having amassed a 6-1 record with an outstanding 1.78 ERA in nine trips to the Kauffman Stadium mound.
The White Sox are well aware of Greinke's talents. The 25-year-old has faced Chicago three times already this season and has surrendered a mere four runs -- three earned -- and 17 hits in 22 innings over those outings, winning twice and receiving a no-decision in the other. In a May 4 matchup with the Sox at Kauffman Stadium, he racked up 10 strikeouts while firing a six-hit shutout.
Greinke comes in having won his last two starts as well. After tossing eight innings of one-run ball to down Houston on June 23, he limited Pittsburgh to two runs over 6 2/3 frames in a 3-2 decision at PNC Park this past Sunday.
The former first-round pick is 5-8 with a 4.20 ERA in 20 lifetime appearances (17 starts) against Chicago.
Greinke's counterpart this evening, John Danks, is on a nice roll of his own. The White Sox lefty has pitched at least seven innings and given up three runs or fewer in each of last four starts, although he's just 2-2 over that span due to a lack of run support.
Danks didn't need much help from his offense in Sunday's clash with the rival Cubs, as he allowed only four hits over seven shutout innings to lead the White Sox to a 6-0 victory over the Northsiders. The win evened his season record to 6-6 and lowered his ERA to a respectable 4.08.
The 24-year-old is 1-0 with a 3.25 ERA over six career starts against the Royals, but struggled in a visit to Kauffman Stadium back on May 31. Danks was reached for four runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings that day and came away with a no-decision.
Chicago has won four of six matchups with the Royals held in Kansas City so far this season and swept a three-game set at Kauffman Stadium from May 29-31. Additionally, the White Sox enter this evening's tilt having won 12 of their last 15 overall road games.
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2007 online football betting Preview
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.
2007 College Football Betting Preview
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.
Las Vegas Sports Lines
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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MySportsbook.com week 1 NFL lines
Now that the 2008 NFL schedule is finally out, it is only matter-of-course for lines on “Week 1” to follow. Of course MySportsbook.com is the first to churn out odds for the NFL’s inaugural week for the upcoming season. Expect a lot of fireworks the first Thursday night of the season as the defending champion Indianapolis Colts face off against the surprise of the 2008 season, the New Orleans Saints. These teams were ranked #1 and #3 in the NFL respectively a season ago so a high scoring affair could be in order. As of now, the Colts will be giving 6 points to the Saints; keep in mind the Saints were one of the better road teams last season going 6-3 SU and 7-2 ATS. The first Monday night of the season will again provide a “double feature”. Coming off a disappointing season, the Cincinnati Bengals will look to get back to playoffs and improve their public image as they take on the AFC North favorite Baltimore Ravens. The second game features a couple of teams that haven’t had too much success recently but each could make some noise if the NFC is as weak as it was last year as the San Francisco 49ers host the Arizona Cardinals. The most interesting game of the opening week will feature the NFC champion Bears as they hit the road to take on the NFL’s top team during last year’s regular season, the San Diego Chargers.
MySportsbook.com Week 1 odds:
Saints +6 @ Colts -6
Falcons @ Vikings (pick ‘em)
Panthers @ Rams (pick ‘em)
Broncos -3.5 @ Bills +3.5
Chiefs -1 @ Texans +1
Dolphins +3 @ Redskins -3
Patriots -5 @ Jets +5
Eagles -3.5 @ Packers +3.5
Steelers -4 @ Browns +4
Titans +6 @ Jaguars -6
Bears +6 @ Chargers -6
Lions +3 @ Raiders -3
Bucs +6.5 @ Seahawks -6.5
Giants +4 @ Cowboys -4
Ravens +3 @ Bengals -3
Cardinals +3 @ 49ers -3
Super Bowl line (2008)
NFC +6.5 vs. AFC -6.5
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To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football sportsbook needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.