08/27/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phillies' rally last year to overtake the Mets for the National League East crown was pretty impressive. Last night's comeback to recapture first place in the division wasn't too bad either.
After rallying from a 7-0 deficit to defeat New York in extra innings on Tuesday night, Philadelphia will try to post a two-game sweep of the Mets tonight at Citizens Bank Park.
New York used home runs by Damion Easley and Fernando Tatis to help build a quick seven-run edge in yesterday's series opener, but the Phillies slowly chipped away at that advantage and forced extra innings on Eric Bruntlett's pinch-hit RBI double in the bottom of the ninth with two outs off Luis Ayala.
The clubs then battled into the 13th inning, emptying out their respective bullpens, before Shane Victorino led off the bottom of the frame with a triple and came around to score on Chris Coste's single that followed two intentional walks and a strikeout by Mets reliever Scott Schoeneweis.
Coste finished 4-for-4 off the bench, while Jimmy Rollins tied a career-high with five hits -- one a home run -- to go along with three RBI and three stolen bases. Rollins entered play on Monday in a 4-for-46 (.087) slump but has gone 8-for-10 over his last two games.
Ryan Howard also homered as the Phils won their fifth straight and for the seventh time in eight games on their nine-game homestand that wraps up tonight, and took a half-game edge over the Mets for first place in the NL East. The Phillies next hit the road for 10 straight, a trek that ends with three tests versus the Mets.
The victory was also just the third in eight home games versus the Mets this year, and New York still leads the season series 9-5. Philadelphia won 12 of its 18 meetings with the Mets last year, a big reason it was able to erase a seven-game deficit in September to capture the division title.
Easley ended with four hits, while Tatis drove in four runs for a Mets team that has blown 22 saves this year. Ramon Castro left the game with a right quad strain in the fifth for the Mets, who lost the opener of their current eight-game road trip and for the third time in four games overall.
Both teams will need innings out of their starters tonight and that should favor the Mets, who send Johan Santana to the hill. Santana has gone at least seven innings in six of his previous seven starts and hasn't allowed a run in each of his last two outings spanning 16 innings.
After tossing a shutout versus Pittsburgh on August 17, the left-hander hurled seven scoreless frames versus Houston on Friday, working around eight hits while striking out five. The victory improved him to 12-7 on the season with a 2.64 earned run average.
Santana has yet to loss to Philadelphia in his career, going 1-0 with a 2.60 ERA in four starts against them. The lone win came on April 18 in Philadelphia.
Kyle Kendrick counters for the Phillies and he is 11-7 with a 4.87 ERA on the season. The righty allowed 13 runs over a total of seven innings in back-to- back losses to the Dodgers and Padres before rebounding to best Los Angeles on Friday. The right-hander held the Dodgers to just a run on three hits over 5 2/3 innings.
Kendrick, who turned 24 on Tuesday and actually warmed up in last night's extra-inning win, is 1-1 with a 2.40 ERA in three career outings versus the Mets.
<< Verlander hopes to slow down red-hot Indians
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hard-throwing but inconsistent righty Justin Verlander
tries for a third straight win tonight when the Detroit Tigers host the
Cleveland Indians in the third and final game of a three-game series at
Comerica Park.
Verlan
<< Chiefs cut K Jay Feely
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chiefs have released kicker Jay Feely,
ending his stint with Kansas City after only two days of practice.
Feely was released by the Miami Dolphins earlier this month after losing his
job to rookie
<< Cubs shoot for sweep of Pirates
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs try to continue their season-long mastery
of the Pittsburgh Pirates this afternoon, as they go for a sweep in the finale
of their three-game series at PNC Park.
Chicago, which leads the majors with 8
<< Blue Jays try to solve Tampa's Garza
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto has had little luck offensively when facing Tampa
Bay's Matt Garza this year. The Blue Jays will try to plate some runs against
the Rays young gun tonight in the middle portion of three-game series at
Trop
Twins turn to Perkins in finale with Mariners >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Glen Perkins has played a big part in the second-half
resurgence of the Minnesota Twins. Now the rookie pitcher will be asked to
play the role of stopper when his team wraps up a three-game series with the
Seattle Mariners th
Rangers go for sweep in KC >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie southpaw Matt Harrison makes the 10th start of his
major league career and tries to regain the momentum of a recent three-game
win streak tonight when the Texas Rangers visit Kauffman Stadium to close out
a three-game
Marlins seeking quick rebound in second tilt with Braves >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If the Florida Marlins have any plans on reaching the
postseason, playing better baseball on the road would certainly help.
Florida will resume a nine-game road trip tonight with the second test of a
three-game s
Angels, Athletics wrap series >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two American League West teams that haven't won a series in
a while get a chance to end their droughts tonight, when the Los Angeles
Angels of Anaheim play the rubber match of a three-game set with the visiting
Oakland Athlet
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.
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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.
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