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07/31/2010 - St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Just after Alex Rodriguez failed to club career homer No. 600, Robinson Cano belted a solo shot to right field with one out in the ninth inning, providing the New York Yankees with a 5-4 win over the Rays, snapping Tampa Bay's seven-game winning streak.
Rodriguez went 0-for-3 with a walk and scored once, but he hasn't gone deep since July 22 against Kansas City. He popped out to a stumbling Jason Bartlett in short left field leading off the ninth against Rafael Soriano (2-1), but Cano then crushed a 1-0 offering to right field to give the Yankees a two-game lead over Tampa Bay in the AL East.
Mark Teixeira added a two-run homer and Nick Swisher a solo blast for the Yankees, who won for the eighth time in 11 games.
Matt Garza, pitching for the first time since his no-hitter against Detroit on Monday, lasted seven innings, allowing five hits and four runs while fanning nine batters.
Javier Vazquez yielded eight hits and four runs over 6 1/3 innings. David Robertson (2-3) pitched the eighth inning to get the win and Mariano Rivera recorded his 22nd save.
Cano had three hits as did Tampa Bay's John Jaso, but the Rays failed to pull even with the Yankees, who capped a big day at the non-waiver trading deadline. Earlier Saturday, the Yankees finalized a trade for first baseman Lance Berkman, who along with cash considerations, came from Houston. New York shipped pitcher Mark Melancon and minor league infielder Jimmy Paredes to the Astros. The Yankees also obtained relief pitcher Kerry Wood from Cleveland for a player to be named later or cash.
Berkman started at designated hitter and went hitless in four at-bats.
Evan Longoria's sacrifice fly scored Jaso in the first inning, but the Yankees tied it in the second on Curtis Granderson's sac fly.
Carl Crawford singled in Jaso in the third and the Rays stretched the lead to 3-1 in the fifth via Bartlett's sac fly, but Teixeira homered with Derek Jeter on base in the sixth to even the score.
Matt Joyce homered to right field in the bottom of the sixth, but Swisher's 20th of the season tied the game again in the seventh.
Game Notes
Rays first baseman Carlos Pena is day-to-day after leaving in the seventh inning with a sore right foot...Crawford stole the 400th base of his career. He became on the seventh player to reach that mark before the age of 29...Before Saturday, Tampa Bay's bullpen had allowed one run in the previous 19 innings.
<< Congi kicks Saskatchewan over Hamilton
Regina, SK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luca Congi made seven field goals and Wes Cates
added two short rushing touchdowns, as the Saskatchewan Roughriders pulled
away from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for a 37-24 victory at Mosaic Stadium.
Congi was
<< Slowey and Twins shut down slumping Seattle
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Slowey threw eight shutout innings to
outduel Seattle's Felix Hernandez and keep the Twins rolling in a 4-0 victory.
Slowey (10-5) gave up three hits, struck out five and didn't walk a batter to
pitc
<< Kouzmanoff, Braden help A's stop streaking White Sox
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Kouzmanoff finished a triple shy of
hitting for the cycle and Dallas Braden tossed a complete game to lead Oakland
to a 6-2 victory over Chicago in the second installment of a three-game set.
Kouzma
<< Hamilton scratched from lineup
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, the
leader in the majors in batting average, was scratched from Saturday's lineup
against the Angels because of patella tendinitis in his right knee.
David Murphy
Zimmerman's homer lifts Nationals over Phillies >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Zimmerman's three-run home run in the
bottom of the ninth led the Washington Nationals to a 7-5 win over the
Philadelphia Phillies in the second of a three-game set.
After the Phillies took
Gonzo's HR in ninth lifts Rockies over Cubs >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Gonzalez lead-off home run in the ninth
inning gave the Colorado Rockies a 6-5 win over the Chicago Cubs in the second
of a three-game set.
Gonzalez led off the bottom of the inning against Sean Ma
Browns agree to terms with Haden >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Browns have signed cornerback
Joe Haden, the seventh overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, to a multi-year
contract.
No terms of the contract were released, but according to a report earli
Mets use run in ninth to edge Diamondbacks >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jesus Feliciano tripled to deep right-center
to open the ninth inning and scored the game-winning run on Carlos Beltran's
sacrifice fly, as the Mets beat the Diamondbacks, 5-4.
David Wright went 2-for-4 wi
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.
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.
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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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
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