Yankees visit Rangers in possible playoff preview

Baseball Betting Lines

09/10/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In a possible playoff preview, the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers will start up an intriguing three-game series between division leaders this evening at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

If the current American League standings remain the same at the end of the regular season, the Yankees and Rangers would face one another in the best-of- five AL Division Series. New York presently controls its own destiny for the top seed, owning a 2 1/2-game advantage on fellow AL East member Tampa Bay in the race, while Texas is 7 1/2 games in front of second-place Oakland in the AL West but is well back of the surging Minnesota Twins in the battle for the league's No. 2 seed.

The Rangers will be sending their potential Game 1 starter to the hill for tonight's opener in C.J. Wilson. The converted reliever has been sensational since the All-Star break, having amassed a 7-1 record and an excellent 2.67 earned run average in 10 second-half starts.

That lone defeat did take place in his most recent assignment, though, with Wilson tagged for six runs in 5 1/3 innings by the Twins this past Sunday in Minneapolis. It was the left-hander's first setback since July 11.

A return home may enable Wilson to get back on track, as he's compiled a stellar 10-2 mark with a 3.11 ERA in 16 starts in Arlington this year. The 29- year-old did face the Yankees at Rangers Ballpark on August 10, getting a no- decision in a 4-3 Texas triumph after allowing two runs in 5 1/3 innings of work.

Wilson was dealt a loss at Yankee Stadium back on April 16, however, and is 0-3 lifetime against New York in 19 appearances, all but two of which have come in relief.

Texas hasn't been playing its best baseball during the early stages of September, having recently had a five-game losing streak, but does come into this set off back-to-back road wins over Toronto. In Wednesday's finale, Mitch Moreland drove in three runs to back 6 1/3 solid innings from Colby Lewis as the Rangers came through with a 4-2 victory.

Vladimir Guerrero added three hits and scored twice for Texas, while Nelson Cruz went 2-for-4 with a run scored to help the Rangers salvage a split of the four-game series.

Lewis (10-12) halted a nine-start winless streak by limiting the Blue Jays to one run on five hits while striking out eight batters on the night. The right- hander had received seven losses and two no-decisions over his drought.

"It's definitely gratifying to get double digits [in wins], for sure," Lewis said afterward. "I just really wanted to bounce back after the two poor outings I had. That was the biggest thing I wanted to do today."

The Yankees take the road tonight for a challenging nine-game trek that includes three critical meetings with the rival Rays following this series. New York tuned up for this stretch with a needed 3-2 win over Baltimore on Wednesday, which snapped a string of three straight losses for the Bronx Bombers and prevented the pesky Orioles from a surprising sweep of the three- game set.

Baltimore came awfully close to getting the sweep, though, taking a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning of the finale. However, Nick Swisher put the Yankees ahead to stay with a two-run homer off O's closer Koji Uehara with his team two outs away from another loss.

Swisher's game-winning blast scored Alex Rodriguez, who had singled off Uehara to begin New York's half of the ninth. Brett Gardner had a run-scoring double earlier in the afternoon, while three Yankee relievers combined for three scoreless innings to keep the deficit at a single run.

"The feeling is that we could come back," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "That's the feeling this club has always had. We've had some comebacks and they did a nice job."

Joba Chamberlain (3-4) picked up the win after striking out two Orioles in a perfect top of the ninth. Rookie Ivan Nova began the game for the Yankees and allowed a pair of runs while fanning six over six solid innings in his fourth big league start.

Girardi will hand the ball to Javier Vazquez this evening, with the veteran hurler getting another opportunity to work out his recent struggles. The offseason acquisition hasn't pitched more than 4 2/3 innings in any of his last three starts and was briefly removed from the rotation last month after a sequence of ineffective performances.

One of those subpar showings came against the Rangers in Arlington on August 11, with Vazquez roughed up for six runs and eight hits in a 4 1/3-inning no- decision. He followed up by lasted only four frames in a home loss to Detroit five days later, allowing two runs and issuing four walks.

Vazquez did pitch better in a pair of relief appearances to close out August, permitting just two runs and four hits over a combined nine innings while earning one win, but encountered trouble once again when placed back in a starting role this past Saturday. In a no-decision against Toronto, the 34- year-old gave up five runs and a pair of homers while walking four in 4 2/3 shaky innings.

This will be the seventh career start against the Rangers for Vazquez, who's 2-2 with a suspect 6.56 ERA over the previous six.

The Yankees have won four of five meetings with Texas this season, with the clubs splitting a two-game set in Arlington last month.

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MySportsbook.com : Fortune Favors Favorites in March Madness betting?

Just like Day 1 of the “Sweet 16”, Friday’s games are chock full of some of the nation’s elite.  Unlike Thursday’s games, there is a little bit more of a “Cinderella” feel as #7 seed UNLV and #6 seed Vanderbilt will attempt to move on to the Elite Eight.  With powerhouses Florida, UNC and Georgetown looking to continue their momentum against lesser known teams, it isn’t surprising that once again the “betting public” is backing most of the favorites.  As the early coin rolls in, 56% of Sportsbook.com bettors prefer Georgetown (-7.5) as they take on Vanderbilt; 84% of the early money is backing Oregon (-3) as they square off against UNLV; and a slight majority (52%) of the early cash is on Florida (-10.5) against Butler as the Gators continue their quest for another National Title. The only favorite the public don’t seem confident in is UNC, as 59% of the cash is backing the underdog Trojans (+8).

Midwest

#1 Florida vs. #5 Butler

The defending National Champs have been on a mission since last April.  Joakim Noah and Al Horford turned down millions of dollars for one reason, to REPEAT.  After a late season hiccup which saw them lose three out of four, the Gators have won six straight by an average of 20.3 points. More importantly, they covered in five of those six games.  Behind their stymie defense that yields only 56.9 PPG, Butler has been a very pleasant surprise this season.  As their 20-11 ATS record will indicate, “surprise teams” like Butler are often good bets for gamblers.  Playing in an average conference, Butler wasn’t and underdog too often but when they were, they covered (6-0 ATS).  Butler’s defense will have its hands full against a Gators offense which averages 80.1 PPG on an amazing 52.9% shooting from the field.  With Florida’s tournament experience over the last few years, it isn’t surprising that they are 5-1 ATS this season, 20-4 ATS over the last three seasons and 38-20 since 1997 in tournament action.

#3 Oregon vs. #7 UNLV

As a #7 seed, UNLV is the closest thing to a “Cinderella” we have this year.  If you bet on UNLV this season with any regularity, you most likely cashed in. Behind their guard oriented attack, the Rebels are an impressive 20-11 ATS this season.  As an underdog they covered in 8 out of their ten games which isn’t surprising since they are 52-30 ATS as a ‘dog since 1997. The Rebels have been a consistent cover during the month of March as well.  This March they are 6-0 ATS, 11-3 ATS over the last three seasons and 24-11 since 1997. Their impressive ATS trends don’t end there; versus teams with a winning record they are 15-6 ATS this season and 41-21 over the last three seasons.  Although Oregon hasn’t been as generous to gamblers as UNLV this season, they have been covering consistently as of late.  There is no question that they are playing their best ball of the season having won their last 8 straight up (SU) by an average of 14.5 points. Not surprising they covered in 7 of those games.  It is interesting to note how similar these teams are in regards to scoring and scoring defense. UNLV averages 75 PPG while giving up 66.5 PPG and Oregon scores 75.8 PPG while yielding 65.5 PPG.

East

#6 Vanderbilt vs. #2 Georgetown

“Hoya Paranoia” is officially back! After a decent start, Georgetown has rolled through the second half of the season.  Over their last 18 games, they are 17-1 SU.  They have definitely improved ATS as the season has progressed as well. After opening the season 1-4-1 ATS, the Hoyas have covered 78.3% of their games.  With their great interior play of Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, the Hoyas as a team shoot 50.5% from the field.  Like the Georgetown teams from years ago, they also excel on defense.  Hoya opponents averaged only 56.8 PPG on 38.2% shooting from the field and an extremely low 30.4% from beyond the arc.  The last stat could be of some concern to Vanderbilt considering they shoot 37.7% from long-range.  Ranking second to last in the SEC in rebounding margin, Vanderbilt will have its work cut out for them against the Hoya trees. As far as covering is concerned, Vanderbilt has been almost a “sure thing” (7-1 ATS) versus good defensive teams that allow less than 64 PPG.

#1 UNC vs. # 5 USC

The Tar Heels are as talented and as deep as any team in the country.  Going ten deep and chock full of HS All-Americans, UNC averages 86.1 PPG and scored 100+ seven times.  Led by All-American forward, Tyler Hansbrough (18.6 PPG 7.9 RPG) UNC has a very balanced attack which can kill you on the inside as well as on the perimeter.  UNC only real concern is their youth as eight of their rotation players are either sophomores or freshmen.  UNC was a reliable cover this season going 20-13 ATS.  An intriguing covering trend for the Tar Heels in recent years has been how they fared after non-conference games.  This season they are 11-3 ATS after non-conference games and over the last three seasons they are 31-13 ATS.  USC is also a pretty deep team which is loaded with swingman types.  An match-up to keep an eye on will be freshman forward Taj Gibson (12.1 PPG, 8.6 RPG) as he squares off against the AA Hansbrough.  USC has been a covering machine this season achieving a 21-10 record ATS.  They have thrived in the underdog role, having covered 10 out of 12.  When playing a team with a winning record, the Trojans are an incredible 20-6 ATS. Keep in mind, USC dedicated their season to former star to Ryan Francis who passed away before the season so as they get closer to the ultimate goal, emotion could definitely be on their side.

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 this sportsbook “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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