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07/20/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pittsburgh hasn't had much success this season, except for when it plays against Houston. The struggling Pirates shoot for their seventh straight win versus the Astros this year in the opener of a three-game series at PNC Park.
The Pirates got their season off to a promising start when they swept the Astros in Houston from April 2-4 to open the season. The club then hosted Houston from April 24-26 and took all three games of that set as well.
It was a quick turnaround for a Pirates team that lost 13 of the 16 games they played against the Astros last season. That included seven losses in 10 home games in 2006.
While the Pirates will be trying to extend a winning streak against the Astros, they will also be attempting to halt a six-game losing streak on the season. The club comes into this series having been swept in three games at Atlanta and then in three games at home against Colorado.
Against the Rockies on Wednesday, Adam LaRoche and Freddy Sanchez both homered in a 5-3 setback. Ian Snell (7-7) was tagged for five runs on five hits with six strikeouts and a walk in six innings.
Tom Gorzelanny will shoot for his fourth straight winning decision with tonight's start for Pittsburgh. The left-hander is 3-0 over his last five outings and received a no-decision on Saturday at Atlanta. On that day, Gorzelanny allowed four runs on six hits with seven strikeouts over six innings of work.
The 25-year-old is 9-4 on the year with a solid 3.24 earned run average.
Gorzelanny is just 1-3 in four career starts against the Astros while pitching to a 4.84 ERA against them. His lone victory versus Houston came this season in the left-hander's first start of the year on April 4.
Houston will send Roy Oswalt to the hill tonight. Oswalt is coming off a horrid outing that saw him allow a career-high eight earned runs (nine total) on 10 hits over 5 1/3 innings in a loss to the Cubs on July 14. The setback dropped the right-hander to 8-6 on the season with a 3.91 ERA.
The All-Star then made a relief appearance on July 17, recording the final out of the seventh inning of his club's 4-2 win over the Nationals.
The 29-year-old is 10-5 with a 2.67 ERA in 20 games (19 starts) lifetime against Pittsburgh. That includes a no-decision against the club on April 2 of this season.
Houston has lost five of its last six games and sits dead last in the NL Central. However, the club is only a half-game back of Pittsburgh for fifth place in the standings.
The Astros just lost two of three to Washington, including a 7-6 setback on Wednesday that saw Houston plate four runs in the seventh inning to get within one, only to fall short.
Mike Lamb and Luke Scott each homered and scored twice in the setback, while Jason Jennings (1-6) was tagged for seven runs on eight hits through five innings.
The loss dropped Houston to 1-5 on its current nine-game road swing.
<< Indians try to continue success against Rangers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians aim for a sixth consecutive victory
over the Texas Rangers when the clubs play the second test of a four-game
series tonight at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.
The struggling Indians picked up a much-n
<< Francis set for return to Rockets
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Francis, who played his first five NBA
seasons in Houston, is set for a return to the Rockets.
The Houston Chronicle reports Francis, whose contract was bought out by
Portland last week, will
<< Birmingham set to add Mido
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Birmingham announced on Friday that
the club has agreed to terms with Tottenham to acquire striker Mido.
The deal is worth $12.3 million and represents the biggest move the summer by
coach Steve Br
<< Cardinals attempt to rebound against Braves
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After receiving a double dose of bad news on Thursday, the
St. Louis Cardinals will try to get back on their feet when the 2006 world
champs continue a four-game series with the Atlanta Braves tonight at Turner
Field.
The
Bennett hopeful for arena solution to avoid moving Sonics >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - SuperSonics owner Clayton Bennett said on
Thursday he wants to have a solution for a new arena in order to keep the team
in Seattle.
Bennett, who purchased the team and the WNBA's Storm, issued a call to
Boston's Beckett eyes win No. 13 vs. White Sox >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Beckett tries to become the second 13-game winner in
the majors this evening when the Boston Red Sox continue their four-game
series with the Chicago White Sox at Fenway Park.
Beckett has dropped two of his
Bard's suspension reduced to two games >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Diego Padres catcher Josh Bard had his
three-game suspension reduced to two games on Thursday.
Bard received the initial suspension after he made contact with umpire Ed
Rapauno in the 11th innin
MLS All-Stars top Scottish champions 2-0 >>
Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of Major League's Soccer's newest
stars, Colombians Juan Pablo Angel and Juan Toja, each scored first half goals
against Scottish Premier League Power, Celtic FC, to lead the North American
league'
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
After all the trouble that’s ensued since Braylon Edwards allegedly punched one of LeBron James’ homeboys in the face at a club, the Cleveland Browns have sent away their last remaining player of worth to the New York Jets. This is a great move for Dirty Sanchez and all, but it’s even better for the Knicks. Now Donnie Walsh can say, “You get to haunt Braylon Edwards with your posse if you sign here!” next summer.
Putting that aside for a moment, the move is a clear indication that the new-look Jets are gunning for the Super Bowl this year. I don’t think that New York thought that Dirty Sanchez was going to be such a rock star. With a 75.2 passer rating that was killed against the Jets, Sanchez is doing an admirable job of managing games and putting the Jets in a position to win. The defense has been the major story in New York thus far, but the acquisition of Braylon Edwards makes this offense loaded with talent that can dent any defense…as long as Dirty Sanchez continues his meteoric rise.
Thus far, Edwards has been a non-factor in the NFL piling up just 139 receiving yards on 10 catches. He has yet to find the endzone, and with the Browns mired in the most unsexy quarterback controversy of all time (Anderson vs. Quinn...yawn), there going nowhere fast. Edwards is two seasons removed from a career year which saw him catch 80 passes for 1,289 yards and 16 touchdowns when the Browns were the spread killing monsters of 2007. In 2008, injuries slowed the receiver down to just 873 yards and three touchdowns though he played in all 16 games.
So that being said, we really don’t know if Braylon Edwards is just a flash in the pan, or a legit threat. At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, he is a prototypical receiver. But he’s also shown a strange, and unwarranted, talent for dropping passes. Lining up opposite Jericho Cotchery, a speed demon with 23 catches, 356 yards and a single touchdown, may give Braylon the open looks he needs. A change of scenery may also rejuvenate the star receiver.
In return, the Browns will receive Chansi Stuckey, online football betting a special teams player you’ve never heard of and a pair of draft picks. That’s a tall order for a guy whose only real value right now is in his name, and it shows no promise to the Browns that they can rebuild around those acquisitions. Braylon was the only reason to hope for the Browns to go 3-14 SU this year. Without him, they don’t have a single guy on offense that can scare any team.
For the Jets, it’s a response to the pounding that they took at the hand of the Saints. Thomas Jones and Leon Washington have averaged around 4.0 yards per carry each on the ground, but striking a fair balance between the passing and rushing attacks in New York has been a struggle. You have to believe that the trio of Dustin Keller, Jericho Cotchery and Braylon Edwards will give Sanchez the weapons he needs to unleash through the air. Theoretically, that would open up holes for the rushing game. But the proposed public option health care plan works in theory too. We need to see the proof in the pudding before we start loading up mega bucks on the New York Jets to take the AFC.
The one wrinkle in this whole thing is that Braylon could very well be suspended by the league for disciplinary action due to his “brawl” with LeBron’s friend. If that’s the case, the Jets may have to bench him for a few games leaving them with a somewhat depleted receiving corps for a few games. Also, this is a guy who gets in fights with people at clubs. New York may not be the best place for him. Just sayin’.
The Jets have a long week before they meet the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football Betting in a virtual pick ‘em game. Braylon’s excess baggage may be a distraction, and his curiously low production may be what we should be expecting of him overall, but for the Jets, taking a chance to strike gold is well worth it. At the end of the year, they can simply just blame it on their rookie quarterback.
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