Boston's Lester takes mound vs. Rangers

Baseball Betting Lines

07/18/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jon Lester goes for his seventh straight home win today, as he leads the Boston Red Sox into the finale of a four-game series with the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park.

Lester, who tossed a perfect inning in the All-Star game on Tuesday, has been one of the hottest pitchers around, especially at home, where has won six straight starts with a 1.60 ERA over that stretch. The left-hander, who is 11-1 with a 1.90 ERA in his last 15 starts overall, allowed two earned runs over six innings of a 14-3 win over Toronto in his last outing on July 9th.

In five career starts against Texas, Lester is a perfect 2-0 with a 3.55 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 33 innings.

Getting the nod for the Rangers is C.J. Wilson, who is 1-3 with a 3.05 ERA in seven road starts this season. His lone road win, however, did come at Boston on April 22nd, tossing 6 2/3 scoreless innings in a 3-0 blanking. It marked his first career start against the Red Sox.

Wilson, though, is coming off a shaky start last Sunday, when he allowed three earned runs over just 4 2/3 innings of a 4-1 loss against Baltimore. He walked five in his second shortest outing of the campaign.

With Lester and Wilson opposing each other this could be another tight game like Saturday, when Kevin Youkilis' sacrifice fly in the 11th inning gave the Red Sox a 3-2 win over the Rangers in the third contest of a four-game set from Fenway Park.

With Alexi Ogando (3-1) on the mound, Marco Scutaro led off the 11th with a walk. Darnell McDonald then laid down a bunt that Ogando fielded, but his rushed throw to second went off of Scutaro and into the outfield, putting runners at second and third. After an intentional walk to David Ortiz, Darren O'Day took the mound, and Youkilis lofted a fly ball to center that allowed Scutaro to score with ease for the win.

Youkilis went 2-for-4 and tied the game in the ninth with an RBI double, while Ortiz drove in the other run for the Red Sox, who had dropped three of four.

"You don't have to hit home runs to win ballgames," Youkilis said. "That shows tonight. That's one of the things I said in the dugout in extra innings. We don't need a home run."

John Lackey went seven innings in the start and was charged with two runs on seven hits with a pair of walks and three strikeouts. Manny Delcarmen (3-2) got the win for throwing a flawless 11th inning.

Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz each had two hits and an RBI for the Rangers, who have lost five of seven.

Cliff Lee made his second start in a Texas uniform and again went nine innings as he was charged with two runs on six hits with a walk and six strikeouts.

"Still kind of frustrated with giving up that run in the ninth when we've got a one-run lead there," Lee said. "But other than that I'm pretty pleased with how it went."

Boston took two of three bouts from the Rangers in an April series and have won in 12 of the past 17 meetings between the teams held in Beantown.

Hallnark Baseball Betting News


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NFL ODDSTop Football Betting Free Agents to Change Teams

NFL Betting

It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.

We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.

Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.

Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.

Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.

NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.

The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

NFL Wagering

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NFL Football Betting : Odds on NFL Division to Win the Super Bowl

NFL Super Bowl Betting

The AFC South and the NFC East are the favorite divisions to have the next Super Bowl champ among them in the NFL betting odds. But more down to the point, these football odds are in favor of the Indianapolis Colts, by far the strongest team in the AFC South, and the Dallas Cowboys of the NFC East.

Most sports fans would agree that these two teams top the list to win it all before the season even begins. In the BetUS Sportsbook football futures, the Colts are +800 in the odds to win the Super Bowl, while the Cowboys are sitting at +1000 and the Super Bowl XLIV champions New Orleans Saints at +900. In the AFC South, the Colts won the division for five straight years after the 2002 realignment, before the Tennessee Titans won it in 2008. But the Colts came back strong in 2009 to win the division again en route to the Super Bowl. The Cowboys are the favorite to win the NFC East, as well as to advance far into the post season. The Cowboys won the division last season before their horrendous loss in the NFC Divisional playoff to Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings. But the ‘Boys will take that loss humbly and be ready for the playoffs this time around.

The NFC South is also very strong, at +600 in the NFL futures, considering that it is home to the defending Super Bowl champions. However, some predictions have the Atlanta Falcons with possibilities of claiming the divisional title this season in place of the Saints, as no team has won back-to-back division championships since the division realignment took place. Let’s not overlook the AFC North at +500. As TO goes to Cincinnati to join Chad OchoCinco and Adam “Pac-Man” Jones, this team looks to claim the division title again. And it is likely they will do so. The Bengals lost in the AFC Wild Card spot in a hard-fought battle against the New York Jets last season. Lest not forget the Pittsburgh Steelers, the XLII Super Bowl Champions… All these teams present interesting odds and matchups for the upcoming season, but the safest and surest bet seems to be with the Colts in the AFC South and the Cowboys in the NFC East. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.