Rays ride hot streak into Arlington

Baseball Betting Lines

07/03/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays take their hot streak into the Lone Star State, where the defending American League champions will start up an intriguing three-game series with the Texas Rangers this evening.

With wins in 15 of their last 20 games, the Rays have climbed right back into contention in the AL East and league Wild Card races. Tampa Bay enters tonight's play trailing first-place Boston by five games in the division standings, while sitting two back of the New York Yankees for the Wild Card.

The Rays had ripped off a season-high seven straight wins before being shut down by Toronto's Ricky Romero on Wednesday, with the Blue Jays' rookie yielding just four hits over eight shutout innings to lead his team to a 5-0 victory.

Romero got more than enough support in the form of solo homers from Scott Rolen, Rod Barajas and Adam Lind, with each of the blasts coming off Rays starter James Shields (6-6). The right-hander lasted 7 1/3 innings and was reached for five runs (4 earned) on seven hits while striking out eight batters.

"I feel terrible when [Shields is] out there just battling his butt off and we can't give him enough runs to win," said second baseman Ben Zobrist, who collected two of the Rays' four hits. "We know it's going to come around."

The Rangers are embroiled in a tight race of their own at the moment, with the club currently one game behind the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for first place in the AL West. Texas closed the gap on its rival by winning the final two tests of a recent three-game series at Rangers Ballpark, including a wild 9-7 triumph in Wednesday's finale.

After squandering a three-run lead in the top of the ninth, the Rangers prevailed when Hank Blalock socked a game-winning two-run homer with two outs in their half of the frame.

Blalock also had a solo homer in the fourth inning and finished 3-for-5 on the night. Michael Young also collected three hits for Texas, while Chris Davis drove in a pair of runs in the win.

The walkoff blast made a winner out of Frank Francisco (2-1), despite the closer surrendering a game-tying three-run homer to Juan Rivera in the top of the ninth. Rangers starter Kevin Millwood worked the first 6 1/3 innings and allowed four runs on eight hits.

"When a guy doesn't have his stuff that night, it's up to the offense to pick him up," Blalock said. "Michael (Young) got on base for us and I was fortunate enough to drive him in."

Texas has scored nine runs or more in each of its last four wins and will take its swings tonight against the recently-activated Scott Kazmir. The Tampa hurler returned from a five-week stint on the disabled list due to a strained right quadriceps and pitched well despite not receiving a decision.

Kazmir held Florida to two runs on four hits over five innings and exhibited good control, throwing 61 of his 92 pitches for strikes.

The hard-throwing lefty had struggled badly with command prior to being put on the DL. Kazmir walked 29 batters in 45 2/3 innings over his first nine starts of the year and brought an unwanted 7.69 earned run average into Friday's appearance.

The native Texan has had little trouble when facing the Rangers in the past, however. In seven career starts against tonight's opponent, Kazmir is 4-0 with a 2.09 ERA and has amassed 56 strikeouts in a combined 43 innings.

The Rangers counter with Tommy Hunter, who goes in search of his first big- league victory as he makes his sixth start in the majors.

Hunter has pitched twice for Texas this season, with the most recent coming in Sunday's 2-0 home loss to San Diego. The young right-hander had a solid performance in a losing cause, giving up just a pair of runs on seven hits and walking none in 6 1/3 innings.

The University of Alabama product, who will be celebrating his 23rd birthday today, also made an emergency start in a May 29 doubleheader against Oakland and allowed three runs in a 5 1/3-inning no-decision.

Hunter is taking the place of Matt Harrison, sent to the disabled list last week with biceps inflammation, in the Texas rotation.

Tonight's clash is the first meeting of the season between these teams. The Rays won six of nine matchups with Texas a year ago, including four of six tilts held in Arlington.

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Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year

Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.

Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.

With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.

Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.

Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.

Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to bet on the NBA. With the regular season about to hit the homestretch, it is important to point out that MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.

Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.