A's attempt to narrow gap in West in finale with Rangers

Baseball Betting Lines

07/29/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After coming through with a much-needed victory on Wednesday, the Oakland Athletics will try to gain further ground on the American League West-leading Texas Rangers when the divisional rivals wrap up a three-game series tonight at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

The Athletics lost 3-1 to Texas in a 10-inning thriller on Tuesday, but were able to avenge that defeat with a dominant performance from Trevor Cahill last night. The All-Star hurler delivered eight shutout innings and Kurt Suzuki knocked in a pair of runs as Oakland evened this key set with a 3-1 triumph.

Cahill (10-4) limited a potent Rangers offense to a mere two hits and walked three in outdueling Texas starter Colby Lewis, who gave up just one run and five hits while registering eight strikeouts over his seven innings of work.

"He was outstanding," A's manager Bob Geren said of Cahill. "When you think about the environment he was pitching in, the weather, the team, it was about as good as you can do."

Lewis held his own as well until the sixth inning, when Suzuki snapped a scoreless tie by hitting his team-leading 12th homer of the year. The Oakland catcher later added an RBI single during a two-run eighth that gave his club a 3-0 advantage.

"[Lewis] left one pitch up to Suzuki, and when you make a mistake to that kid he usually doesn't miss," Rangers manager Ron Washington remarked.

Nelson Cruz, who had the game-winning homer in the 10th inning of Tuesday's opener, had one of Texas' two hits of Cahill to extend his hitting streak to 16 games. The standout outfielder is batting .403 (27-for-67) with three homers and 16 RBI during his career-best tear.

Oakland now has won 10 of its last 13 contests, but still trails the front- running Rangers by 7 1/2 games in the AL West standings. Texas had won four of five prior to Wednesday's setback.

The Rangers will attempt to bounce back behind C.J. Wilson, who's been as good as any pitcher on a Texas staff that also contains former AL Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee over the past few weeks. The converted closer comes in having won six of his last eight decisions and has yielded two runs or less seven times in a nine-start span dating back to June 9, producing an excellent 2.33 earned run average over that stretch.

Wilson has been especially strong since the All-Star break. After permitting just one run and three hits and racking up a career-best 10 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings to defeat Boston on July 18, the left-hander fired eight shutout innings to lead Texas to a 1-0 victory over rival Anaheim this past Friday in his second start of the second half.

The 29-year-old is also an impressive 7-2 with a 3.18 ERA in 12 outings at hitter-friendly Rangers Ballpark for the year, and allowed one run in a seven- inning no-decision against the A's in Arlington back in May. Wilson had faced Oakland 30 times in relief prior to that start and went 1-3 with a 5.08 ERA and five saves in those games.

The Athletics counter with a pitcher who's on quite a roll of his own in Vin Mazzaro. The young right-hander enters the finale with a 4-0 record and an outstanding 2.12 ERA over his past five assignments and has lasted at least six innings in each of his six most recent starts.

Most notably, most of Mazzaro's success has come on the road, where he's compiled a 4-1 mark along with a 3.13 ERA in seven games (five starts). The second-year major-leaguer has emerged triumphant in three straight away starts, including a July 17 clash at Kansas City in which he surrendered one run in a career-best 7 2/3 innings of work.

Mazzaro followed up by holding AL Central-leading Chicago to two runs and three hits in a sharp six-inning stint on Saturday, which ran his season record to 6-2.

The 23-year-old did not fare well in a meeting with the Rangers on May 4, however, with Mazzaro reached for four runs and issuing four walks before exiting after three innings.

These divisional foes have split eight meetings thus far in 2010, with the Rangers having prevailed in three of the five matchups held in Arlington.

Wwwsportspage Baseball Betting News

<< Newcastle defender Taylor to miss three months
Newcastle, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Newcastle center back Steven Taylor will be sidelined three months with a shoulder injury, the English Premier League club revealed Thursday. Taylor, 24, dislocated the shoulder in a preseason friendly

<< White Sox put home streak on line in finale with Mariners
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox try for their first 11-game home winning streak in 21 years this evening, when they attempt to complete a four- game sweep of the Seattle Mariners at U.S. Cellular Field. Chicago won for the 17th time

<< Phils shoot for eighth straight win, sweep of D-Backs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Philadelphia Phillies wait for Roy Oswalt to approve a trade to them, they will shoot for a three-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight at Citizens Bank Park. According to multiple reports, the Phillies

<< Padres send out Latos in hopes of taking set from Dodgers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mat Latos attempts to win his seventh straight decision this evening, when the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers close out a three-game series at Petco Park. Latos, who had recently been sidelined with a strained le

<< Indiana State seeking OC after Walters' departure
Terre Haute, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Indiana State is conducting a fast search to replace its offensive coordinator after Troy Walters resigned earlier this week to accept the position of wide receivers coach at Texas A&M. In his only seas

A-Rod tries once again for 600th home run in Cleveland >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With Alex Rodriguez still on the verge of reaching one of baseball's most exclusive milestones, the New York Yankees will wrap up a four-game series with the Cleveland Indians tonight at Progressive Field. Rodriguez remain

Aberdeen signs midfielder Hartley >>
Aberdeen, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aberdeen signed Scotland midfielder Paul Hartley on Thursday. Hartley, who has played 25 times for Scotland, was named Aberdeen's captain. He last played for Bristol City, and played at Celtic from 200

Southern Illinois adds six players, two from FBS >>
Carbondale, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Southern Illinois football team has added six players to its 2010 roster. Highlighting the group are Football Bowl Subdivision transfers Carl Harris, a wide receiver from Rutgers, and Myron Walker, a nos

Nationals decide to put Strasburg on DL >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals have decided to put rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg on the 15-day disabled list with stiffness in his shoulder. Strasburg is expected to rest for the next 3-to-4 days and have

A sad, tragic end in Memphis >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A body riddled with bullets was found in Southeast Memphis Wednesday afternoon in a thickly wooded area near FedEx's world headquarters. It was just another sad ending in a city that has become notorious f

Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards