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06/02/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets are playing the kind of baseball right now that could save a manager's job. Willie Randolph's crew will try to maintain its hot play in the opener of a three-game set tonight with the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park.
Randolph received a vote of confidence from general manager Omar Minaya last Monday, just a day after the Mets lost to the Rockies for their sixth loss in seven games. Though Randolph's job was not guaranteed for the rest of the season, New York is playing like a club that wants to keep him around.
The Mets lost last Monday's test with the Marlins, but have since won five of six, taking three of four against the Dodgers over the weekend. New York's big and pricey names stepped up, as Johan Santana pitched into the eighth inning, while Carlos Beltran and Ryan Church each hit two-run homers.
Santana (7-3) allowed six hits and the lone run while striking out six over 7 2/3 innings to win for the sixth time in his last seven decisions. Church, meanwhile, had three hits after returning to the starting lineup for the first time since suffering a minor concussion -- his second of the year -- in the nightcap of a doubleheader at Atlanta on May 20.
David Wright had three hits and two RBI, and Jose Reyes went 2-for-5 with two runs scored. Reyes, who has reached base safely in 32 straight games, extended his hitting streak to 17 games, hitting .338 (25-74) with 14 runs scored, five home runs and 11 RBI over that stretch.
The Mets send Oliver Perez to the hill tonight to pitch this opener. Perez has posted consecutive no-decisions, including Wednesday when he gave up five runs on four hits and four walks over six innings. He was hurt by the long ball, allowing three homers in a game for the second time this year.
Perez, who is 4-3 with a 4.83 earned run average this year, has yet to defeat the Giants in his career, going 0-4 against them with a 5.83 ERA in eight starts.
The Giants will try to carry the momentum of Sunday's comeback win over the Padres into tonight's test. San Francisco found itself down 3-1 in the bottom of the 10th after Alex Hinshaw (1-0) gave up a two-run homer to Adrian Gonzalez in the top of the frame, but rallied for three runs in the inning.
Fred Lewis drove in the first two runs of the stanza with a pinch-hit triple that scored both Ray Durham and Brian Horwitz, while Jose Castillo later brought home Lewis with an infield single to win the game.
The win helped the Giants avoid getting swept in the three-game series and was their fourth in six games.
Though he is batting just .245 on the season and has only one hit in his last 12 at-bats, the Giants might want to keep Rich Aurilia's bat in the lineup tonight, as he has four homers and 10 RBI in 31 at-bats in his career against Perez.
Jonathan Sanchez starts for the Giants and brings a 3-3 record and 4.26 ERA into tonight's outing. Sanchez halted a five-start winless stretch (0-2) on Wednesday versus the Diamondbacks, holding them to a pair of runs and six hits over six innings of an 11-3 victory. The left-hander also struck out six, giving him 63 strikeouts in 61 1/3 innings this year.
Sanchez, who has allowed two runs or fewer in six of his last eight outings, will make his first career start against the Mets tonight. He has faced them twice in relief, posting a victory while holding them without a hit or run in 1 2/3 total innings.
The Mets won four of six against the Giants last year, going 2-1 at AT&T Park.
<< Reds' Griffey brings his 599 homers to Philadelphia
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ken Griffey Jr. brings his historic home run chase to
Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park, as the Cincinnati Reds take on the Phillies
tonight in the first of four consecutive games.
Griffey belted his 599th career home run
<< Rockies try to end road woes in LA
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies will try again for the first victory
of their current 10-game road trip, as they battle the Los Angeles Dodgers
tonight in the opener of a three-game set at Chavez Ravine.
The Rockies are 0-7 s
<< Angels play the first of three in Seattle
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of American League West rivals get together tonight
at Seattle's Safeco Field, where the division-leading LA Angels of Anaheim
begin a six-game road trip with the first of three straight meetings with the
last-place M
<< Pirates, Cardinals conclude series at Busch
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals hope to complete a week-long
homestand on a positive note with tonight's finale of a four-game series with
the Pittsburgh Pirates from Busch Stadium.
St. Louis has gone 4-2 thus far on the seven-gam
Red Sox aim for four-game sweep of Orioles >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While Boston's 10-game road trip didn't get off to a great
note, it sure can end on one. The Red Sox try to run their record to .500 on
the trek, which ends tonight in the finale of a four-game set with the
Baltimo
Rangers resume homestand with clash against reeling Indians >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers continue their 10-game homestand this
evening with the first of four games against the Cleveland Indians at Rangers
Ballpark.
The Rangers started their homestand in impressive fashion by taking t
Dementieva reaches French quarters >>
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former runner-up Elena Dementieva posted
a fourth-round victory Monday to reach the quarterfinals at the French Open.
The seventh-seeded Dementieva held off 11th-seeded fellow Russian Vera
Zvonareva 6-4,
Twins call on Hernandez in attempt to gain split with Yanks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Livan Hernandez tries to keep his unblemished record at the
Metrodome intact this evening, when his Minnesota Twins wrap up their four-
game set with the New York Yankees.
However, Hernandez, who is 4-0 in his six home
The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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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.
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