A-Rod goes for 600th homer as Yankees continue set with Royals

Baseball Betting Lines

07/23/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- Alex Rodriguez will be attempting to achieve another milestone in his illustrious career when the New York Yankees superstar takes the field against the visiting Kansas City Royals this evening.

After homering in New York's 10-4 victory in Thursday's opener of this four- game series, Rodriguez is now just one shy of becoming only the seventh player in major league history to hit 600 for his career. The All-Star third baseman added a pair of doubles and knocked in four runs to help the Yankees win for the 12th time in their last 15 games.

"I'm having fun," said Rodriguez after last night's game. "I'm trying to drive in big runs for this team. When I hit [number 600], hopefully it is for a win."

Derek Jeter added an inside-the-park home run, the longtime shortstop's first since 1996, and Nick Swisher delivered a two-RBI double during a four-run eighth inning that broke open a close contest. Both players finished with two hits, while Mark Teixeira ended 3-for-5 with an RBI single to help pace New York's 14-hit attack.

The Yankees' offensive barrage helped offset a somewhat shaky performance from ace CC Sabathia, who was reached for four runs (three earned) and allowed 11 hits over the first 6 1/3 innings. The standout lefty still was able to become the AL's first 13-game winner and struck out nine Kansas City hitters before exiting.

Royals starter Bruce Chen (5-4) surrendered five runs on nine hits in six innings to take the loss. Kansas City supported him with 14 hits on the night, but stranded 14 runners in losing for the eighth time in 10 games.

"Great game for eight innings," said Royals manager Ned Yost. "Bruce battled through some things, grinded it out."

Kansas City made a move prior to Thursday's matchup, trading third baseman Alberto Callaspo to the Angels in exchange for pitcher Sean O'Sullivan and a minor-leaguer. Wilson Betemit took Callaspo's place in the lineup and went 2- for-4 with an RBI.

The Royals were also without David DeJesus for much of last night's game after the center fielder injured himself while attempting to flag down Jeter's homer in the third inning. DeJesus suffered a sprained right thumb when running into the wall and will sit out the remainder of this series.

Brian Bannister will try to stave off Rodriguez's attempt at history when he takes the mound for Kansas City tonight, but may have a tough time doing so. Rodriguez has clubbed three homers in seven lifetime at-bats against the right-hander, who comes in having lost three straight decisions and has allowed four runs or more in each of his past four starts.

Bannister has had his share of struggles against the rest of the New York lineup as well. The 29-year-old owns a horrid 15.07 earned run average in four career starts against the Yankees, with the Bronx Bombers having racked up six homers and 30 hits in 14 1/3 innings over those games. In his most recent encounter with New York, Bannister was torched for 10 runs and 10 hits -- including three homers -- while lasting only one inning in a loss at the old Yankee Stadium on August 17, 2008.

The University of Southern California product has also posted a poor 7.45 ERA along with a 3-7 record in 12 starts at night this season. Bannister's most recent outing came during the day but wasn't a good one either, as he permitted five runs and walked six men in 6 1/3 innings to lose to Oakland last Sunday.

New York's A.J. Burnett will also be seeking to put a forgettable last start behind him this evening. The struggling right-hander threw only two-plus innings against Tampa Bay this past Saturday, but was rocked for four runs on four hits in a 10-5 setback to the Rays. The defeat was the sixth in seven decisions for Burnett, and he's registered a lousy 8.15 ERA over that eight- start stretch.

Burnett didn't help his cause on Saturday by reportedly cutting both his hands while taking out his frustrations on a clubhouse door after finishing the second inning. He sustained only minor injuries during the blowup, though, and will be able to take his regular turn in the rotation tonight.

The 33-year-old owns a 2-2 record with a 3.32 ERA over six career starts against Kansas City.

Thursday's victory improved the Yankees to 15-4 against the Royals at home since the start of the 2006 season. New York has won 26 of the 35 meetings between the clubs over that time period.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.


Super Bowl XLIII Betting - Super Bowl 2009

Super Bowl 2009, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Let’s take a look at the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds and the betting line and figure out where they’ve been and where they are going to go.

MySportsbook.com put up the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds late on Sunday night with the Pittsburgh Steelers favored by 6.5 points and a total betting line at 47.5 points.

Since then, however, the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds have seen a good deal of movement and you’ll want to be on top of where they are likely to move to make sure you get the best line value for the big game.

Since opening, the Super Bowl 2009 betting lines went to Steelers -7 in the span of roughly 3 hours but were quickly bought back down just minutes later to 6.5 again.

After that is took about 5-6 more hours before the betting line went back to -7 where it has sat for a while now and is likely to remain. The opening betting total of 47.5 was bet down right after the line became available and went to 47 within minutes.

Roughly a day later it has been bet even further down to the 46.5 tally it currently is set at.

Roughly 60% of gamblers seem to be on the Cardinals here so the point spread will be bet down and a 7.5 would not last very long at all with many taking the early 6.5 in hopes of finding a potential middle in the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds.

If you like Arizona and see a 7.5, I’d take it as soon as possible because it’s unlikely to last. For Pittsburgh backers, the -7 might be the best you’ll be able to find but a 6.5 is definitely possible close to game time.

Regarding the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds for the total, most tracked gamblers are already on the over and with those who took the under 47.5 already securing a middle on the over 46.5, the only way I see it moving is back up to 47 so if you like the over, I’d recommend betting now.

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