Rangers seeking to extend lead on second-place A's

Baseball Betting Lines

07/28/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cliff Lee sure is one tough act to follow.

Colby Lewis will have to do just that tonight as he aims to pitch the Texas Rangers to a fourth straight victory over the Oakland Athletics in the middle contest of a three-game series at Rangers Ballpark.

In his fourth start with the Rangers since being acquired from Seattle by way of a trade, Lee hurled nine innings and gave up just one unearned run while striking out a career-high 13 batters last night, but did not get a decision in a 3-1 extra-inning victory over the Athletics.

It marked the third time with Texas that Lee has gone at least nine innings and seventh time in his last 10 starts overall.

"I don't go into a game trying to strike out a bunch of hitters, but when I am locating my fastball well and mixing in some off-speed pitches, I'm going to get a bunch of strikeouts," said Lee.

Lee's outstanding outing was nearly wasted, but Nelson Cruz belted a walk-off two-run homer in the 10th inning to give Texas a 4-1 mark so far on a seven- game homestand and its seventh win in its last nine games overall.

"I hit it pretty well," said Cruz. "It was one of those hits when you make good contact -- I was just looking for a pitch to drive and I got one."

The American League West-leading Rangers own an 8 1/2-game lead over the Athletics and Angels in the division and have won three straight and four of seven versus Oakland this season.

Lewis will try to extend that series win streak this evening, though the right-hander had a two-start winning run end Wednesday versus Detroit. Lewis allowed four runs on nine hits over seven innings, falling to 9-6 with a 3.52 earned run average on the season and 2-2 with a 4.97 ERA over his last five starts.

The 30-year-old is 5-1 with a 3.40 ERA in eight home starts in 2010 and 2-1 with a 3.65 ERA in eight games, six of those starts, lifetime versus the A's. He has faced them twice this year, going 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA.

Trevor Cahill counters for Oakland and is 9-4 with a 3.15 ERA on the season. The 22-year-old was drilled for five runs over 6 2/3 innings of a no-decision versus Kansas City on July 17 and is coming off Friday's loss to the Chicago White Sox. Cahill was better in that game, yielding three runs -- two earned -- on four hits and two walks in seven innings of work.

The righty is 4-1 with a 2.23 ERA in six lifetime starts against Texas, including 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA in two this season.

Cahill will hope for better support tonight after Kurt Suzuki drove in Oakland's lone run on Tuesday. The Athletics came into the game having won nine of their last 11 and scored 28 runs in their previous five contests.

Wcondenast Baseball Betting News

<< Posey puts 20-game hit streak on the line as Giants battle Marlins
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie Buster Posey tries to extend his 20-game hitting streak this evening when the San Francisco Giants and Florida Marlins resume their four-game series at AT&T Park. San Francisco stayed hot on Tuesday, as Juan Uri

<< Santana, Garcia duel again in Mets-Cards clash
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jamie Garcia faced New York Mets ace Johan Santana, the rookie was able to match the two- time Cy Young Award winner pitch-for-pitch. He may find that to be more difficult tonight.

<< Struggling Rockies seek to bring skid to a close against Pirates
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies try to avoid their eighth straight loss this evening when they play the middle test of their three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates at Coors Field. Following a 2-9 road trip, things didn't get a

<< Red Sox turn to Beckett aiming for sweep of Angels
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Beckett makes his second start since returning from the disabled list this afternoon when the Boston Red Sox try to complete a three-game sweep against the LA Angels of Anaheim at Angel Stadium. Boston, which was swep

<< Astros vie to extend series win streak over Cubs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros have yet to lose a series to the Chicago Cubs this year. Starting pitcher Bud Norris getting his first victory in well over two months would keep that stretch going. Norris and the Astros aim for a fourt

Dodgers shoot for another win in key set with Padres >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Excellent pitching and timely hitting made the Los Angeles Dodgers look like the first-place team last night versus the San Diego Padres. Los Angeles goes for its first four-game winning streak in almost two months tonight

Hudson tries to get Braves back on track in Washington >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If the Atlanta Braves want to hold onto first place in the National League East, they must find a way to consistently beat teams like the Washington Nationals. Lucky for them, that is Tim Hudson's specialty. Hudson will tr

FBS Football: Agent-Gate 2010 >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Throwing the word "Gate" behind subject matter gives the impression of impropriety, and in turn draws a line in the sand for those trying to decide what to make of an issue. At SEC Football Media Day earli

Reds wrap up set in Milwaukee >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After breaking out of an offensive slump last night, the Cincinnati Reds hope to be swinging hot bats for a second straight day when the National League Central co-leaders conclude a three-game series with the Milwaukee Brewe

Twins hope to continue offensive onslaught in Kansas City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With their offense producing runs at an incredible rate, the Minnesota Twins set their sights on a fifth straight victory as well as a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals when the American League Central foes square o

Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.

Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

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