Skidding Indians head out west to battle Mariners

Baseball Betting Lines

09/02/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians will take their four-game losing streak out west for seven straight games starting with tonight's opener of a four-game series against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field.

The Indians are coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of the Chicago White Sox, culminating with Wednesday's 6-4 loss in the series finale. Carlos Carrasco made his 2010 debut for the Tribe and pitched well enough in the no- decision, allowing three runs in 7 1/3 innings.

Justin Germano gave up two runs in the eighth inning to suffer the loss, as the Indians blew a 4-1 lead and allowed four runs in the decisive eighth frame. Jensen Lewis was reached for a run in the ninth.

"It was a tough series emotionally," Indians manager Manny Acta said. "I hope we learned from it. I thought our starters threw very well, but we struggled from the back end."

Asdrubal Cabrera and Jordan Brown both knocked in a run, while Shin-Soo Choo and Jayson Nix finished with three hits and a run scored for Cleveland, which is last in the Central and will also visit the LA Angels of Anaheim.

Rookie Josh Tomlin will take the mound Thursday for the Indians and is 2-3 with a 4.08 ERA in six starts. He has lost three straight outings before topping Kansas City last Friday in a 15-4 rout at Progressive Field. He held the Royals to three runs in five innings, despite walking a career-high four.

The right-hander, who is 0-2 in three road starts, has never faced Seattle.

Seattle has lost eight of its last 11 games and dropped two of three meetings with the Angels in the Emerald City. In Thursday's 4-2 loss, Jason Vargas was touched for three runs over seven innings and struck out four in defeat. He allowed the go-ahead, two-run homer by Hideki Matsui in the seventh inning.

"Vargas was good tonight," Mariners manager Daren Brown said. "I thought he did an outstanding job. Actually, 6 2/3 solid innings then he left a pitch up to Matsui at the wrong time in the game and it cost him. But, I thought he did a nice job."

Franklin Gutierrez had two hits and the lone RBI for the Mariners, who are the cellar dwellers in the AL West. Ichiro Suzuki has recorded at least 200 hits in each of his nine seasons and currently has 171. He has two hits in each of his last three games.

Doug Fister gets the nod for the M's tonight and he's 4-10 with a 3.73 ERA in 22 starts this season. Fister, who is just 1-9 in his last 15 starts, suffered a hard-luck loss the last time out in a 1-0 setback versus Minnesota last Saturday. He allowed the only run in seven innings with six strikeouts.

The righty, who faced Cleveland for the first time in his career back on August 22 of last season in a no-decision, owns a 3-5 ledger in 13 starts at Safeco Field this season.

Seattle won two of three meetings with Cleveland last month from Aug. 13-15 at Progressive Field. The Indians, however, are 6-3 in the last nine meetings.

Rivsls Baseball Betting News

<< Twins seek to sweep Tigers out of Minnesota
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The American League Central-leading Minnesota Twins will continue their homestand tonight and try for a second sweep of the Detroit Tigers this season in the finale of a three-game series at Target Field. The Twins have wo

<< Red Sox aim to stay in playoff mix, take series from O's
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox have missed the playoffs only once in the previous seven years, but are in danger of being left out for the first time since the 2006 campaign. The Red Sox are seven games off the wild card lead and eigh

<< Golf Tidbits: Too little, too late for PGA Tour?
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A week after Jim Furyk overslept and missed his pro-am tee time, the PGA Tour suspended its own rule that disqualifies a player for missing a pro-am. But has the damage been done? Furyk would probably argu

<< Sharks make it official with Niemi
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks officially added former Chicago netminder Antti Niemi on Thursday, signing him to a one-year deal. While financial terms were undisclosed, earlier reports indicated it is for $2 million.

<< Sharks sign G Antti Niemi
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -The San Jose Sharks have signed the goalie who helped knock them out of the playoffs, agreeing to a one-year, $2 million deal with Antti Niemi.The team announced the deal Thursday.Niemi stopped 129 of 136 shots in the Western

LPGA Taiwan to start in 2011 >>
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The LPGA Tour announced Thursday that the LPGA Taiwan has been scheduled for October 2011 at Sunrise Golf & Country Club. The LPGA-sanctioned event will be co-sponsored by the Golf Associati

Mound Presence: A's lefty Braden faces Yankees again >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oakland Athletics starter Dallas Braden won't have to worry about Alex Rodriguez running across his pitching mound this afternoon due to the slugging third baseman currently being on the disabled list. Braden, making hi

Phillies make a quick stop at Colorado >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Given how well the Phillies have played out west over the last week, they certainly won't mind staying there for an extra game. It doesn't hurt that its a matchup against the Rockies either. Philadelphia will try

Braves' Hudson aims to shut down Mets in series finale >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Offense has been tough to come by for the Mets in their current series with the Braves. It should be even tougher tonight with Tim Hudson, the National League's earned run average leader, set to take the hill. Huds

USA finishes unbeaten in FIBA preliminary round >>
Istanbul, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Gordon scored a game-high 21 points, leading the United States in a 92-57 rout of Tunisia to finish up an unblemished record in the preliminary round of the 2010 FIBA World Champio

Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Super Bowl XLIII, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.

The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.

The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.

Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.

MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:

Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)

Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)

Matt Foust won both of his conference championship plays yesterday and he is ready to serve up plenty of Super Bowl action. Each individual play costs $15.00, however, MySportsbook.com recommends purchasing Matt's NFL Playoff Package which includes all of Matt's Super Bowl props and picks from just $45.00.

Get free Super Bowl XLIII Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online Super Bowl betting with credit cards

Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

The 2008 NFL betting lines season is almost upon us! If you like to bet on the NFL, you are in the best possible place for online betting. The sportsbook has NFL odds up on a ton of futures, and you will also find NFL lines up for early games as well. Join sportbook today and we'll help guide you right through to Super Bowl XLIII and beyond!

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .