05/12/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays try to extend their franchise-record home-winning streak to 10 games this evening when they start a four-game series with the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field.
Extending the streak may be easier said than done, though for the Rays, who have dropped four straight and six of their last eight to the Yankees. Tampa is also just 15-27 in the series since the start of the 2005 campaign, including losses in six of its last seven at home to New York.
Tampa moved five games above .500 for the first time in team history on Sunday, as Carl Crawford blasted the go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth inning and the Rays used 15 hits to beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 8-5, completing a three-game weekend sweep.
Crawford had three hits and stole two bases, while Akinori Iwamura finished 3- for-5 and scored twice for the Rays, who won for the fourth straight time and improved to 13-5 over their last 18 games overall.
Rays starter Andy Sonnanstine went five innings, surrendering five runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out three. J.P. Howell (2-0) came on to pitch three strong innings, retiring seven straight and nine of 10 to secure the win.
Troy Percival came on in the ninth to record his ninth save of the season.
Matt Garza hopes to keep Tampa in the win column this evening, as he tries to follow up his best performance of the year. Unfortunately for the 24-year-old right-hander, though, he absorbed the loss against Toronto Wednesday, despite surrendering just a run and six hits in 6 2/3 innings.
Garza, who is 1-1 on the season with a 4.91 earned run average, is 0-1 in two games (one start) against the Yankees, pitching to a 4.91 ERA in those outings.
New York will counter with Andy Pettitte, who was scheduled to pitch on Sunday for the Bronx Bombers, but their game in Detroit was postponed due to rain.
Pettitte will try to get back into the win column after going 0-2 in his last three starts, and is coming off an outing in which he held the Cleveland Indians to just two runs on five hits. Pettitte struck out six batters and only walked one, but finished with a no-decision, while the Yankees fell by a final score of 5-3.
The 35-year-old left-hander has been successful on the road this season, posting a strong 3-1 record with an equally impressive 2.81 ERA. Overall Pettitte is an even 3-3 on the season and comes into this game with a mediocre 3.77 ERA.
Pettitte lost to Tampa earlier in the year, but is an impressive 14-3 lifetime against the Rays with a 3.62 ERA in 23 games, 22 of which have been starts.
New York, meanwhile, enters tonight's opener with wins in five of its last eight games, but still finds itself four games back of the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox, and 2 1/2 games behind the Rays.
A pair of Yankees, though, seem to have broken out of their season-long slumps, as Robinson Cano has hit in six straight games, while Jason Giambi is 5-for-his-last 13 with six RBI and five extra-base hits. However, they are still batting .185 and .183, respectively.
<< Cubs try to keep momentum going as Padres pay visit
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs enter a four-game set with a chip on their
shoulders, as they are coming off an impressive sweep of the Arizona
Diamondbacks. Tonight, the club will welcome the San Diego Padres to town for
the ser
<< Red-hot Marlins take streak into Cincinnati
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The surging Florida Marlins will try to extend their
season-high winning streak to eight games tonight, when they open a four-game
series against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.
The NL East-leadin
<< Red Wings aim for 3-0 lead as West finals head to Dallas
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-seeded Detroit Red Wings will try to take a
commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals tonight,
when they visit the Dallas Stars for Game 3 at American Airlines Center.
Detroit has grabbed a
<< Hernandez tries to continue hot start in finale with Red Sox
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With the opportunity to achieve a series win over the
defending world champions, the Minnesota Twins will send out their newfound
ace in tonight's finale of a four-game set with the visiting Boston Red Sox.
Livan Hernandez
Angels open series with White Sox >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim hope a return home gets
them off the schneid this evening when they kick off a four-game series with
the Chicago White Sox at Angel Stadium.
The Angels, who will be home for the nex
Padilla leads Rangers in series opener vs. Seattle >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vicente Padilla tries to win his fourth straight start this
evening when Texas begins a three-game series with the Seattle Mariners at
Rangers Ballpark.
Padilla improved to 5-2 on the season against Seattle on Wed
Sorenstam makes modest gain in Rolex Rankings >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Annika Sorenstam posted a seven-stroke
victory Sunday at the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill, but the decisive win
only inched her a little closer to world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa in this week's
Rolex W
Garcia gets back into top 10 in the world >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergio Garcia collected the biggest win
of his career on Sunday in a playoff at The Players Championship. It moved him
back into the top 10 of this week's Official World Golf Rankings.
Garcia, who par
Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.
New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.
His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.
HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.
The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.
RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.
First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.
The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.
These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.
New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.
You can find these lines and all of the NFL betting lines , so be sure to login and get your wagers down before kickoff!
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines .
To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sports betting
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting