Rangers turn to Lee for opener of key set with Angels

Baseball Betting Lines

07/22/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- The Texas Rangers acquired Cliff Lee to help end the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's reign of dominance in the American League West. The All-Star hurler gets his first crack at the three-time defending division champions since his blockbuster trade to Texas when the first-place Rangers return home tonight to begin a critical four-game series between these two rivals.

The Rangers made the biggest in-season move of the summer when they obtained Lee from the Seattle Mariners in a six-player swap on July 9. Not only did Texas get the front-line pitcher the team had been seeking to head its rotation, but a player who's had considerable success when opposing the Angels over the past few years.

Lee has won his last four starts against Anaheim, including a May 28 triumph while with the Mariners in which he yielded three runs (two earned) and struck out 10 over eight sharp innings, and owns a 6-3 record with a 3.18 earned run average in nine lifetime encounters with the Halos.

The two-time All-Star and 2008 AL Cy Young Award honoree hasn't been nearly as good pitching at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, however. Lee has produced a subpar 7.33 ERA in eight starts at his new home and struggled there in his Texas debut back on July 10. Facing the last-place Baltimore Orioles, the standout lefty allowed six runs and served up three homers in a complete-game loss.

Lee was back in form this past Saturday, when he held Boston to two runs and six hits over nine innings at Fenway Park. The 31-year-old still wasn't able to garner his first victory with his new club, though, with the Red Sox eventually prevailing in 11 innings that night.

In 15 overall starts with the Rangers and Mariners, Lee has produced an 8-4 record and a 2.59 ERA that currently tops the American League.

The Angels counter Lee's presence with their own staff ace, as Jered Weaver has been lined up to pitch tonight's opener. The right-hander garnered his first career All-Star nod with an excellent first half and enters this evening's clash off another strong performance in his most recent time out.

Against Seattle on Friday, Weaver surrendered just two runs and did not walk a batter over seven effective innings in leading the Halos to a 3-2 verdict. The effort improved the former first-round draft pick's 2010 ledger to 9-5 and lowered his ERA to a very-solid 3.16 over 20 starts.

Weaver also turned in a gem against the Rangers back on July 1, limiting Texas to two hits and a pair of walks through seven shutout frames to notch another win. He's 5-3 lifetime versus the Rangers and has pitched to a 3.62 ERA in 16 meetings with tonight's foe.

Like Lee, Weaver has had his problems when operating at Rangers Ballpark, however. The 27-year-old is just 1-3 with a 4.59 over eight career visits to Arlington and the Angels have been dealt defeats in each of his last six starts there. In a road matchup with Texas on May 18, Weaver was tagged for a season-high seven runs and gave up three homers before being lifted after 4 2/3 innings.

Anaheim enters this important set trailing the Rangers by five games in the standings and missed out on an opportunity to close the gap on Wednesday. The club suffered a 10-6 setback to the AL East-leading New York Yankees, with the reigning world champions battering Angels pitching for three home runs and a total of 15 hits.

Joel Pineiro (10-7) permitted six runs and 11 of those hits over the first six innings to have a string of seven consecutive winning decisions snapped. The Yankees later broke open the contest by scoring four times off Scot Shields in the seventh, with the veteran reliever allowing a pair of homers in his lone inning of work.

"Momentum changes are very evident in a game," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said afterward. "Give [the Yankees] some credit. They swung the bat well and [Scot] Shields couldn't get through the seventh inning and obviously put the game in a little different light."

Ex-Yankee Hideki Matsui and Bobby Wilson each had two-run homers for Anaheim, which was coming off a 10-2 rout of the Yankees on Tuesday and had won four of five out of the All-Star break before faltering yesterday.

The Rangers also lost on Wednesday, with Detroit's Max Scherzer firing seven shutout innings to lead the Tigers to a 4-1 decision at Comerica Park that stopped Texas' three-game win streak.

The AL West front-runners mustered a mere four hits for the game, with Josh Hamilton's RBI ground out in the ninth inning preventing a potential shutout.

"We felt flat in the dugout. Don't know why we felt that way," Hamilton admitted afterward. "We weren't in the game as much from the start as we needed to be. That's something we can't do, especially if you want to make the postseason, be there at the end."

Colby Lewis (9-6) did turn in seven innings for the Rangers in a losing cause, with the right-hander reached for four runs on nine hits and recording five strikeouts.

Texas owns a 3-2 edge thus far in this year's season series and swept a two- game set from the Angels in Arlington back in May. Anaheim has lost in eight of 11 visits to Rangers Ballpark since the start of last season.

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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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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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