07/24/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays will attempt to maintain their hold on first place in the American League East when the up-and-coming club begins a four-game series with the Kansas City Royals tonight at Kauffman Stadium.
Tampa Bay starts up a seven-game road trip with a slim one-game edge on the defending world champion Boston Red Sox in the division standings. The Rays kept themselves in the top spot by winning two of three matchups at home against Oakland earlier this week, including Wednesday's 4-3 decision at Tropicana Field.
Jonny Gomes and Ben Zobrist smacked back-to-back homers during a three-run fifth inning which enabled Tampa to overcome an early 2-0 deficit. Zobrist added a key RBI single later in the game.
James Shields (9-6) preserved that lead with 8 1/3 strong innings on the mound, with the Rays right-hander giving up three runs on just six hits and fanning seven without a walk. Troy Percival got the final two outs to earn his 20th save of the season.
Wednesday's win improved Tampa Bay to an excellent 40-16 at home on the year, but the young squad is just 19-25 as the visitor in 2008. The Rays will also visit Toronto for three games on this current trek.
The road has also been a challenge for Matt Garza, who opens up this series for the Rays tonight. The talented right-hander is an impressive 6-1 with a 2.10 earned run average on the Tropicana Field mound this season, but has struggled to a 2-4 record and 5.91 ERA in eight starts away from St. Petersburg.
Garza's most recent start came at home and was a typically dominant effort. Against Toronto this past Saturday, he yielded only two hits and walked none over 7 2/3 shutout innings to defeat the Blue Jays. In his last away outing, Garza was rocked for seven runs and 11 hits over five frames to suffer a loss at Cleveland on July 12.
The 24-year-old is 0-3 in four career starts against Kansas City, despite recording a solid 3.42 ERA in those games. Garza faced the Royals at home on July 7 and posted a no-decision while allowing three runs over 6 2/3 innings.
Kansas City will be trying to rebound from this week's three-game sweep at the hands of division-rival Detroit at Kauffman Stadium. The Tigers cruised to a 7-1 victory in Wednesday's finale, with starting pitcher Armando Galarraga setting down the first 18 Royals hitters to lead the way.
David DeJesus broke up Galarraga's potential perfect game with a single to begin the bottom of the seventh inning and finished 2-for-4 for the Royals. DeJesus wound up scoring Kansas City's lone run on a Jose Guillen base hit later in the frame.
Zack Greinke (7-7) struck out eight Tigers in six innings of work, but the Royals righty gave up five runs on seven hits to get saddled with the loss.
Kansas City hopes from a better performance out of Gil Meche tonight. The right-hander came through nicely his last time out, as he limited the White Sox to one run and just two hits over 6 1/3 innings to fuel the Royals to a 9-1 win last Saturday in the Windy City.
Since June 10, Meche is 4-1 with a 3.04 ERA in eight starts and has surrendered two runs or less five times during that span.
The 29-year-old opposed Garza in St. Petersburg on July 7 and also came away with a no-decision in that game. Meche worked 5 1/3 innings and permitted two runs while walking four batters before exiting.
For his career, Meche is just 1-4 with a 5.40 ERA in nine starts against the Royals.
Tampa Bay won three times during its four-game series with the Royals at Tropicana Field earlier this month and is 6-3 in its last nine matchups against Kansas City. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Rays have taken 11 of the 17 meetings between these teams.
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants try and complete their first home
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New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Mitsubishi Motors Drive to Virgin Mobile
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Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NFL security interviewed a number of
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Cubs return home to face Marlins >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs, co-owners of baseball's best home record
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Marlins tonight at Wrigley Field.
A return to the Windy City couldn't have come at a
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ben Sheets attempts to follow up CC Sabathia's brilliant
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CFL Previews - Week 5 (July 24-27) >>
Toronto, Ontario (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -
CALGARY STAMPEDERS (3-1) AT WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS (0-4)
DATE & TIME: Thursday, July 24, 8 p.m. (et).
GAME NOTES: The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will have a new quarterback under
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Backu
Chiefs agree to terms with another draft pick >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Chiefs agreed to terms
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“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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