AL West: Rangers' bullpen getting the job done

Baseball Betting Lines

05/11/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers have taken over the top spot in the American League West standings, and they have their bullpen to thank.

Overall, the Rangers (18-14) have won 10 of their last 13 games. They leapfrogged Oakland into first place this weekend after sweeping a four-game series with the Kansas City Royals. On Sunday, four Rangers' relievers combined to pitch five shutout innings after starter Scott Feldman lasted just four innings. That quartet allowed just two hits from the fifth inning to the ninth, preserving Texas' 6-4 victory.

During the team's current run, the headliner has been Neftali Feliz, who on Sunday picked up his seventh save in his last seven outings to earn his ninth save of the season. And he is picking up steam with each appearance. Feliz hasn't allowed a run over his last six appearances, and he has retired 17 of the last 18 batters he has faced.

But it isn't just Feliz putting up zeroes. All told, the Texas bullpen has notched 10 consecutive scoreless innings and has retired 28 of the 36 batters faced since Thursday, when the Kansas City series began. So far in the month of May, the Rangers' relievers have combined for a Major League-best four wins and six saves.

But while teams often prefer to keep playing day-in, day-out when things are going well, Monday's idle day provided the Rangers' taxed bullpen some much needed rest. After all, it marked their first day off in three weeks. Still, there are some on the team who would love to keep the momentum going.

"You can feel it around the clubhouse, confidence building," starting pitcher Rich Harden told the Star-Telegram on Sunday. "The way things have been going, the way we've been feeling, you want to keep on going."

Later this week, the offense will get a boost from the return of right fielder Nelson Cruz, who has been on the disabled list with a strained right hamstring. Cruz begins a two-game rehab assignment Tuesday night with Triple-A Oklahoma City. The team could reactivate him as early as Thursday's day game against Oakland, or wait until Friday's series-opener in Toronto. In 19 games before the injury, Cruz was hitting .323 with seven homers and 17 RBI.

BRADEN'S MOTHER'S DAY GIFT

Oakland starter Dallas Braden couldn't have scripted it any better himself.

By now, most of the baseball-following world is well aware of Braden's recent run-in with Yankees' slugger Alex Rodriguez regarding the unwritten rules of baseball etiquette. But until Sunday, most fans knew very little about Braden's upbringing, about how his grandmother cared for him after his mother died of skin cancer during Braden's senior year in high school.

So it was only fitting that on Sunday, Mother's Day, Braden tossed the 19th perfect game in big league history in Oakland's 4-0 win over red-hot Tampa Bay. And of course, Braden's grandmother, Peggy Lindsey, was there to see it in person.

"It's a more important day for my grandmother than anything," said Braden, moments after a tearful embrace with his grandmother. "That's the biggest thing to be able to give her something like this on a day of this magnitude, considering everything we've been through together. It's more about her for me.

"It hasn't been a joyous day for me in a while. But to know that I still get to come out and compete and play a game on that day, that makes it a little better. With my grandma in the stands, that makes it a lot better. To be able to give her this today was perfect."

Braden's perfecto was only the second in team history, as Catfish Hunter accomplished the feat in May of 1968 against Minnesota. And thanks to Braden, the A's improve to 17-15 on the year, just one game back of division-leading Texas. Tonight, the team hits the road for a three-game series with the Rangers, followed by a three-game set with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The A's are tied for the Major League lead with 13 wins at home, though they are just 4-8 on the road.

ANGELS LOOKING TO REGROUP FROM DISASTROUS ROAD TRIP

With their abysmal road trip now in the rearview mirror, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim look to get back to business this week at cozy Angel Stadium.

To recap, the Angels went just 2-8 on their recent trip, which began with a three-game sweep at Detroit and continued with a four-game sweep at Boston, before the Halos were able to salvage a series victory over the Seattle Mariners this past weekend.

As a team, the Angels are hitting just .220 in the month of May, which ranks fourth-worst in the majors for the current month. Meanwhile, the pitching staff has posted a combined 5.53 ERA, third-worst in the majors for the month of May. Be it at the plate or on the mound, something eventually has to give, doesn't it?

The team returned home on Monday to kick off a three-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays, owners of the best record in baseball. Only, for the second time in five games, the Angels blew a 4-0 lead when closer Brian Fuentes gave up three runs in the top of the ninth. But later, in the bottom of the 11th, Juan Rivera delivered a sacrifice fly to preserve the win for the Angels and, hopefully, some of the momentum that had been lost during the 10-game road trip.

MARINERS STILL WAITING ON BATS TO HEAT UP, GRIFFEY TO WAKE UP

Mariners' general manager Jack Zduriencik received plenty of praise for his offseason moves to bolster an already solid starting rotation, trading for former Cy Young winner Cliff Lee and resigning Erik Bedard. With Felix Hernandez atop the rotation and Doug Fister (2-1, 1.71) bursting onto the scene, Seattle's rotation ranks third in the American League with a 3.69 ERA, albeit with a combined 7-11 record to show for it.

However, all of that pitching prowess is in danger of being wasted this season if Seattle's lineup continues along its current path. At the moment, Seattle's offense ranks last in the AL in batting average, hits, runs, home runs, RBI, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. In other words, virtually every significant offensive category.

Already this week, rumors have been swirling that 40-year-old Ken Griffey Jr.'s Seattle reunion is in danger of ending much earlier than anyone in the organization had hoped. Griffey is hitting just .208 with zero home runs and only five RBI as the team's designated hitter and, according to a couple of teammates, was asleep in the clubhouse recently when manager Don Wakamatsu was looking for a pinch-hitter.

The team's struggles boiled over on Sunday, when hitting coach Alan Cockrell was relieved of his duties and replaced by Triple-A Tacoma hitting coach Alonzo Powell. Powell is familiar with a lot of the hitters who came up through the team's minor league system. Zduriencik's hope is that "sometimes, just the same message from a different messenger carries some weight."

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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.

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It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.

As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.

Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.

Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.

Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.

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