Yankees visit Rangers in possible playoff preview

Baseball Betting Lines

09/10/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In a possible playoff preview, the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers will start up an intriguing three-game series between division leaders this evening at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

If the current American League standings remain the same at the end of the regular season, the Yankees and Rangers would face one another in the best-of- five AL Division Series. New York presently controls its own destiny for the top seed, owning a 2 1/2-game advantage on fellow AL East member Tampa Bay in the race, while Texas is 7 1/2 games in front of second-place Oakland in the AL West but is well back of the surging Minnesota Twins in the battle for the league's No. 2 seed.

The Rangers will be sending their potential Game 1 starter to the hill for tonight's opener in C.J. Wilson. The converted reliever has been sensational since the All-Star break, having amassed a 7-1 record and an excellent 2.67 earned run average in 10 second-half starts.

That lone defeat did take place in his most recent assignment, though, with Wilson tagged for six runs in 5 1/3 innings by the Twins this past Sunday in Minneapolis. It was the left-hander's first setback since July 11.

A return home may enable Wilson to get back on track, as he's compiled a stellar 10-2 mark with a 3.11 ERA in 16 starts in Arlington this year. The 29- year-old did face the Yankees at Rangers Ballpark on August 10, getting a no- decision in a 4-3 Texas triumph after allowing two runs in 5 1/3 innings of work.

Wilson was dealt a loss at Yankee Stadium back on April 16, however, and is 0-3 lifetime against New York in 19 appearances, all but two of which have come in relief.

Texas hasn't been playing its best baseball during the early stages of September, having recently had a five-game losing streak, but does come into this set off back-to-back road wins over Toronto. In Wednesday's finale, Mitch Moreland drove in three runs to back 6 1/3 solid innings from Colby Lewis as the Rangers came through with a 4-2 victory.

Vladimir Guerrero added three hits and scored twice for Texas, while Nelson Cruz went 2-for-4 with a run scored to help the Rangers salvage a split of the four-game series.

Lewis (10-12) halted a nine-start winless streak by limiting the Blue Jays to one run on five hits while striking out eight batters on the night. The right- hander had received seven losses and two no-decisions over his drought.

"It's definitely gratifying to get double digits [in wins], for sure," Lewis said afterward. "I just really wanted to bounce back after the two poor outings I had. That was the biggest thing I wanted to do today."

The Yankees take the road tonight for a challenging nine-game trek that includes three critical meetings with the rival Rays following this series. New York tuned up for this stretch with a needed 3-2 win over Baltimore on Wednesday, which snapped a string of three straight losses for the Bronx Bombers and prevented the pesky Orioles from a surprising sweep of the three- game set.

Baltimore came awfully close to getting the sweep, though, taking a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning of the finale. However, Nick Swisher put the Yankees ahead to stay with a two-run homer off O's closer Koji Uehara with his team two outs away from another loss.

Swisher's game-winning blast scored Alex Rodriguez, who had singled off Uehara to begin New York's half of the ninth. Brett Gardner had a run-scoring double earlier in the afternoon, while three Yankee relievers combined for three scoreless innings to keep the deficit at a single run.

"The feeling is that we could come back," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "That's the feeling this club has always had. We've had some comebacks and they did a nice job."

Joba Chamberlain (3-4) picked up the win after striking out two Orioles in a perfect top of the ninth. Rookie Ivan Nova began the game for the Yankees and allowed a pair of runs while fanning six over six solid innings in his fourth big league start.

Girardi will hand the ball to Javier Vazquez this evening, with the veteran hurler getting another opportunity to work out his recent struggles. The offseason acquisition hasn't pitched more than 4 2/3 innings in any of his last three starts and was briefly removed from the rotation last month after a sequence of ineffective performances.

One of those subpar showings came against the Rangers in Arlington on August 11, with Vazquez roughed up for six runs and eight hits in a 4 1/3-inning no- decision. He followed up by lasted only four frames in a home loss to Detroit five days later, allowing two runs and issuing four walks.

Vazquez did pitch better in a pair of relief appearances to close out August, permitting just two runs and four hits over a combined nine innings while earning one win, but encountered trouble once again when placed back in a starting role this past Saturday. In a no-decision against Toronto, the 34- year-old gave up five runs and a pair of homers while walking four in 4 2/3 shaky innings.

This will be the seventh career start against the Rangers for Vazquez, who's 2-2 with a suspect 6.56 ERA over the previous six.

The Yankees have won four of five meetings with Texas this season, with the clubs splitting a two-game set in Arlington last month.

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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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MySportsbook.com: NBA Championship Odds

With the playoffs about two months away, the top two teams in the Western Conference are the clear cut leaders to win the NBA Championship. The Dallas Mavericks have the best record in the NBA (44-9) and have been absolutely scorching since the second week of the season.  What makes the Mavs’ record more impressive is the fact that they dropped their first four games of the season.  Currently they have won 17 out of their last 18 and are MySportsbook.com’s favorite (2-1) to win it all.  Right behind the Mavs are the Pacific leading Phoenix Suns (39-13).  Last season, the Suns lost in the Conference Finals to non-other then the Mavericks four games to two.  Of course the Suns were without center Amare Stoudemire who has is averaging 19.9 PPG and 9.5 RPG since coming back from his knee injury.  Unlike the Mavs, the Suns have struggled a bit lately having lost their last three and four out of their last seven.  Of course the main reason for their three straight loses is due to the absence of two time MVP Steve Nash, who is out with a shoulder injury.  Heads-up, the Mavs have beaten the Suns in both of their meetings this season.

In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons (32-19) are the favorites to win it all at 6-1. The addition of Chris Webber seems to have been a good move for the Pistons.  Since coming over from the 76ers, Webber has averaged 13.1 PPG and 7.3 RPG and the Pistons are 11-4.  Even though the defending champion Heat are currently on the playoff making cusp, they are the Eastern Conference team that is getting the most action to win it all (9-1).  The fact that Shaquille O’Neal is back in the starting lineup after missing 39 games probably has something to do with this.  No doubt, Shaq makes a difference when in the lineup as their winning six out of their last seven would indicate.

Just because it is the All-Star break doesn’t mean that you can’t bet on NBA hoops this weekend.  Be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com to bet on who you think will cut down the nets this July. Also, be sure to check out all of the lines and props for All-Star weekend.  With the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry, there are plenty of ways to cash in on the NBA this weekend.

MySportsbook.com’s NBA Championship odds:

Atlanta Hawks 1000-1

Boston Celtics 5000-1

Charlotte Bobcats 5000-1

Chicago Bulls 20-1

Cleveland Cavaliers 20-1

Dallas Mavericks 2-1

Denver Nuggets 25-1

Detroit Pistons 6-1

Golden State Warriors 250-1

Houston Rockets 12-1

Indiana Pacers 60-1

Los Angeles Clippers 45-1

Memphis Grizzlies 5000-1

Miami Heat 9-1

Milwaukee Bucks 1000-1

Minnesota T-Wolves 200-1

New Jersey Nets 50-1

New Orleans Hornets 150-1

New York Knicks 150-1

Orlando Magic 75-1

Philadelphia 76ers 1000-1

Phoenix Suns 5-2

Portland TrailBlazers 1000-1

Sacramento Kings 250-1

San Antonio Spurs 9-1

Seattle Sonics 5000-1

Toronto Raptors 35-1

Utah Jazz 20-1

Washington Wizards 25-1

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