King Felix goes for M's in series capper with Tribe

Baseball Betting Lines

09/05/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Felix Hernandez will attempt to atone for a recent loss to the Cleveland Indians and help the Seattle Mariners earn a split of a four- game series with that above-mentioned opponent when the ace pitcher toes the rubber this afternoon at Safeco Field.

Hernandez's only setback over his past five starts took place against the Indians in Cleveland on August 15. The All-Star right-hander had a shutout after six innings of that contest, but was tagged for six runs -- all of which were unearned due to an error by teammate Chone Figgins -- in the seventh and served up a game-breaking grand slam to the Tribe's Travis Hafner.

The 24-year-old has bounced back quite well from that performance, however. Hernandez yielded just two runs -- one earned -- over a combined 15 1/3 innings in back-to-back road victories over the New York Yankees and Boston in his next two starts, then delivered seven scoreless frames in a tough-luck no- decision against the Angels on Tuesday.

Over his last five assignments, Hernandez has let up a mere one earned run and struck out 47 batters over 37 innings while posting a 3-1 record. His 2.38 ERA and 200 strikeouts for the season are both the second-best marks in the American League.

The native Venezuelan, who sports a 2.29 ERA at Safeco Field this year, is 3-3 with a 3.22 ERA in five career starts against the Indians.

Cleveland has won two of the first three tests of this September set between last-place teams and came through with a 4-2 decision on Saturday behind 6 2/3 strong innings from starting pitcher Mitch Talbot (9-11). The rookie right- hander yielded just one unearned run and struck out six Mariners to end a nine-start winless streak in which he went 0-5.

"It was nice to see Talbot come back and have a good outing," Indians manager Manny Acta said. "He's been struggling a little bit since he came back from the DL. [Saturday] he was very good, threw a lot of first pitch strikes, had that good changeup and a good cutter and gave us seven solid innings."

Cleveland gave Talbot an early cushion by scoring four unanswered runs off Seattle starter David Pauley over the game's first four innings, with Hafner, Asdrubral Cabrera, Shin-Soo Choo and Michael Brantley all coming through with RBI singles.

Pauley (2-7) did last six innings and surrendered the four runs on seven hits while striking out five.

"I think Pauley wasn't as sharp as he has been," said Mariners manager Daren Brown. "I thought he left some pitches in the middle of the plate, he had trouble getting his breaking balls over early and they just sat on the fastball and took the sinker away from him."

Ex-Indian Russell Branyan had a solo homer for Seattle, his second of the series, and finished 2-for-3 in Saturday's loss.

Acta will hand the ball to Jeanmar Gomez in this afternoon's finale, with the rookie filling in for originally-scheduled starter Justin Masterson due to the latter having to attend to a family matter.

Gomez has made seven starts for the Indians this season and gone 3-2 with a very respectable 3.08 ERA, though he's 0-2 with a 5.52 ERA over his last three times out. The young right-hander did pitch decent in an August 28 matchup against Kansas City, allowing two runs on six hits over 5 2/3 innings while not receiving a decision in his team's 4-3 win.

This will be the first-ever appearance against Seattle for Gomez, who's just 1-2 with a 5.79 ERA in three starts on the road this year.

Though these teams have split six meetings this season, Cleveland has taken seven of its last eight games against the Mariners held in Safeco Field.

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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.

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards

MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.