08/20/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lefty Zach Jackson makes his second appearance in a Cleveland uniform tonight when the Indians take on the visiting Kansas City Royals in the second of three midweek games at Progressive Field.
Jackson, a supplemental 2004 draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays, initially reached the majors with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2006 and made seven starts before beginning this season with the Brewers as a reliever.
He came to the Indians as part of the deal that sent ace CC Sabathia to Milwaukee shortly before the trade deadline.
He debuted with Cleveland on Aug. 14 against Baltimore, getting a no-decision after allowing eight hits and three runs in five innings of the Indians' 11-6 loss.
The 25-year-old native of Latrobe, Pa. has never faced the Royals.
Meanwhile, second-year Kansas City right-hander Gil Meche can extend an eight- start unbeaten streak.
He fell to 6-9 with a 5-2 loss to Baltimore on July 2, but has since gone 4-0 with four no-decisions while his earned run average has dropped from 4.74 to 4.13.
Meche won four straight starts between July 19 and Aug. 4 and has since put together consecutive no-decisions, allowing 11 hits and five runs in 12 1/3 innings.
Meche is 3-7 in 15 career starts against the Indians with a 5.53 ERA in 81 1/3 innings.
He's 5-5 in 13 road starts this season with a 3.65 ERA.
On Tuesday, Grady Sizemore hit a three-run homer, while Ryan Garko and Shin- Soo Choo chipped in solo shots as the Indians turned away the Royals, 9-4.
Anthony Reyes (2-1), in his third start since being acquired from the Cardinals, threw the minimum five innings to get the win, allowing two runs on six hits and three walks for the Indians, who have won three of four.
Luke Hochevar (6-12) dropped his fifth straight decision, yielding four runs on seven hits in five innings. The first overall pick in the 2006 draft left the game with rib cage tightness on his right side and is listed as day-to- day.
Mike Aviles had two hits, a walk and scored twice, while Jose Guillen knocked in a pair for Kansas City, which has dropped six of seven. Miguel Olivo was 3- for-4 in a losing effort.
Cleveland has won five of its nine matchups with the Royals this season.
<< Cards' Isringhausen shut down with elbow tendonitis
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jason
Isringhausen has been shut down indefinitely after an MRI exam Tuesday
revealed tendonitis in his right elbow and a partial tendon tear in his flexor
group.
<< Stewart, Hawpe power Rockies past Dodgers
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ian Stewart hit a three-run homer and
finished with a career-high five RBI while Brad Hawpe continued his recent
strong offensive play with a two-run homer, as the Colorado Rockies defeated
the Lo
<< Arizona edges San Diego to take NL West lead
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Dunn hit a two-run homer in his home
debut and Conor Jackson chipped in two RBI, as Arizona held off San Diego for
a 7-6 victory, in the opener of a three-game set.
Chris Snyder, Chris Burke and M
<< Nolasco's near no-no allow Marlins to spear Giants
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ricky Nolasco was dominant, fanning 11 in
a two-hit shutout as the Marlins cruised to a 6-0 win over the San Francisco
Giants in the opener of a three-game set.
Nolasco (12-7) walked one in his first
Pirates wrap up short set in St. Louis >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Right-hander Todd Wellemeyer goes for an eighth start
without a loss tonight when the St. Louis Cardinals host the Pittsburgh
Pirates in the second and final game of an abbreviated two-game set at Busch
Stadium.
Wellemeye
Hewitt pulls out of U.S. Open >>
Sydney, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former champion Lleyton Hewitt will skip
the U.S. Open after undergoing hip surgery.
The former world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam titlist was the 2001 U.S.
Open champ and runner-up in 2004.
"Sur
Tigers shoot for another sweep of Rangers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers will try to complete their second
consecutive three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers, as the two teams conclude
their set tonight in Arlington.
Detroit has won all five of its meetings with Te
Liriano leads Twins in finale vs. Oakland >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Francisco Liriano is not the same pitcher who faced the
Athletics in April. Back to his old form, Liriano will try to lead the
Minnesota Twins to a victory against Oakland this afternoon in the rubber
match o
Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.
Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.
Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.
Memphis vs. Ohio State
Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.
UCLA vs. Kansas
In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.
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 MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”. By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.
To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards
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