Angels, Mariners to square off in battle of reeling clubs

Baseball Betting Lines

05/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of slumping American League West rivals get together tonight in the Emerald City, where the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim collide in the opener of a three-game series at Safeco Field.

The Mariners have dropped six straight games, while Anaheim enters tonight's tilt riding a seven-game slide. Both teams are last in the division standings, 3 1/2 games behind both Oakland and Texas.

Seattle is still winless on its nine-game homestand after getting swept in back-to-back series with the Rangers and Tampa Bay. In Thursday's 8-0 loss in the series finale with the Rays, Ryan Rowland-Smith had a rough outing and lasted just 4 1/3 innings, permitting six runs on seven hits and three walks.

"I'm a better pitcher than what's going on right now on the field," Rowland- Smith said after falling to 0-2 on the season.

Ichiro Suzuki, Chone Figgins, Ken Griffey Jr. and Jose Lopez provided the hits for the Mariners, who were outhit by a 12-4 margin and have lost 10 of their last 12 contests.

Seattle has been struggling offensively in 2010 and sits second-to-last in the majors in average (.230), slugging percentage (.321), runs (91) and RBI (86). The club also placed outfielder Milton Bradley on the restricted list Thursday. Bradley recently asked the team for help with some personal and emotional issues.

Felix Hernandez hopes to leave his current issues in the dust when he takes the bump for the Mariners tonight. Hernandez has lost two straight starts since opening the season 2-0 with a 2.15 ERA, and is coming off a rough outing versus Texas on Saturday.

The righty was reached for five runs and eight hits over a season-worst 4 1/3 innings pitched against the Rangers, falling to 2-2 in six starts and boosting his ERA to 3.10. Hernandez first lost on April 26 at Kansas City, where he yielded three runs -- two earned -- through seven innings.

"King Felix", who tossed a complete game on April 21 versus Baltimore, will make his 17th career start against the Angels and owns a 4-5 mark with a 4.20 ERA in this series.

Los Angeles is coming off a four-game sweep at the hands of the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park and fell to 0-7 on a 10-game road trip. It entered the series in Beantown following a three-game seep by Detroit and blew an early 4-0 lead in last night's 11-6 loss to the Red Sox.

Scott Kazmir failed in his bid for his third win of the season by surrendering seven runs on six hits and five walks through 4 1/3 innings.

"I got behind on a lot of hitters, walked five guys. It's something where you're just fighting yourself," Kazmir said. "You're not going to have a good outcome when you're putting people on base every single inning."

Mike Napoli hit a two-run homer and Howie Kendrick ended with two hits and a pair of runs driven in for Anaheim.

The Angels will send Jered Weaver to the mound Friday with hopes of the right- hander rebounding from his first loss of the season. After beginning the year 3-0 with a 2.53 ERA in five starts, Weaver was pummeled by the Tigers in a 5-1 loss at Comerica Park on Sunday.

Weaver lasted a season-low 4 2/3 innings and allowed four runs and seven hits, despite striking out seven batters and walking just one. He was coming off a six-inning stint against Cleveland in which he allowed only one run. The wiry right-hander's season ERA rose from 2.53 to 3.19.

The Long Beach State product is very familiar with the Mariners, as evidenced by his 8-3 record and 4.61 ERA in 14 career starts against them.

Los Angeles went 10-9 against the Mariners last season and has won three straight and five of the last seven matchups between the clubs. These two teams split 10 meetings at Safeco Field a season ago.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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MySportsbook.com Posts Heisman Trophy Odds

With 3,919 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and a mere seven interceptions last season, combined with a powerful South Bend Heisman legacy, odds makers at MySportsbook.com have given Notre Dame senior quarterback Brady Quinn the best Heisman Trophy odds at 5-2.

Quinn isn’t the only big man on campus this season.  Oklahoma junior running back and 2004 Heisman runner-up Adrian Peterson, listed at 7-2, rushed for a combined 3,033 yards in his first two years as a college player and will give Quinn a run for his money. 

This online sportsbook has also listed Troy Smith, Ohio State senior quarterback, as another strong favorite to win the 72nd Heisman Trophy.  A 7-1 bet, Smith threw for 2,282 yards last season and also led the Buckeyes to a convincing 34-20 victory over Quinn and the Fighting Irish in last season’s Fiesta Bowl.

Current betting odds Heisman trophy are:

Brady Quinn (QB, Notre Dame)
Adrian Peterson (RB, Oklahoma)
Troy Smith (QB, Ohio State)
Michael Bush (RB, Louisville)
Steve Slaton (RB, West Virginia)
Brian Brohm (QB, Louisville)
Chris Leak (QB, Florida)
Mike Hart (RB, Michigan)
Ted Ginn (WR, Ohio State)
Darius Walker (RB, Notre Dame)
Drew Tate (QB, Iowa)
Marshawn Lynch (RB, Cal)
Kenny Irons (RB, Auburn)
Chad Henne (QB, Michigan)
Kyle Wright (QB, Miami)
Drew Stanton (QB, Michigan State)
Kenneth Darby (RB, Alabama)
JaMarcus Russell (QB, LSU)
Drew Weatherford (QB, Florida State)
Blake Mitchell (QB, South Carolina)
Reggie Ball (QB, Georgia Tech)		 5-2
7-2
7-1
10-1
10-1
12-1
12-1
18-1
18-1
20-1
30-1
35-1
35-1
40-1
50-1
50-1
60-1
60-1
60-1
60-1
60-1

For complete NCAA Football odds visit MySportsbook.com.