AL West: Hapless in Seattle

Baseball Betting Lines

06/01/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The good news is the Seattle Mariners have been able to score some runs here and there.

The bad news is they enter play Tuesday cemented in last place in the American League West, eight games back of the first-place Oakland Athletics. Seattle is also 5 1/2 games behind the third-place Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

The Mariners are no doubt happy to turn the page on May, a month that began with a six-game losing streak and ended with three straight defeats. Those three straight losses have underscored the fact that Seattle has managed to score at least four runs in five of its last six games. Of course, with interleague play set to begin next weekend, the M's pitchers will now be taking their hacks as part of baseball's least intimidating lineup.

Manager Don Wakamatsu sent a message with a bullpen shakeup following Monday's 5-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins. Relievers Kanekoa Texeira (5.30 ERA) and Jesus Colome (5.29) were designated for assignment after both had some major control issues in Sunday's 9-7 loss to the Angels. In their place, the team recalled left-hander Garrett Olson and right-hander Sean White from Triple-A Tacoma.

The move gives Wakamatsu added flexibility with a bullpen that has been stretched thin. According to a report on the team's website, the M's bypassed Triple-A prospects Luke French (1.76 ERA) and Steven Shell (3.00) so they could continue their development as starters rather than be thrust into a big league bullpen role.

In terms of the lineup, Wakamatsu has stopped relying on Ken Griffey Jr. (.184) and Casey Kotchman (.192) in everyday roles, instead giving more opportunities to Mike Sweeney (6 HR) and Michael Saunders. After only two months of play, it seems the M's manager has tried just about everything to jumpstart his team. Still, he's not about to give up now.

"Sometimes guys get to a point where they're pressing so much that they just give up," Wakamatsu told the Seattle Times. "And all of a sudden, there's a freedom in that. Where you stop the pressing."

NO CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION IN ANAHEIM

The mob-scene celebrations at home plate following a walk-off home run have become commonplace these days in Major League Baseball. But that has begun to change after Angels' star first baseman Kendry Morales broke his ankle in one of those celebratory scrums following his walk-off grand slam against Seattle on Saturday.

Morales was leading the team in batting average (.290), home runs (11), total bases (94) and RBI (39). He was expected to undergo surgery on Sunday, but that procedure was pushed back a week because of a high level of swelling in his fractured left ankle. He will be out of the lineup indefinitely.

"When you lose a player of Kendry's status, much like when we lost Torii Hunter and Vlad Guerrero last year, the players around them have to play at a certain level to absorb and create the production," manager Mike Scioscia said.

On Sunday, less than 24 hours after Morales' freak injury, Howard Kendrick belted a walk-off home run in a 9-7 win against the Mariners. This time around, Scioscia had put in place some guidelines for post-game celebrations. There was still a celebration at the plate, but the players waited on the grass, and there was no wild pileup.

"We were just trying to be careful that time," Hunter said. "When I saw (Kendrick) hit the home run, I saw him running around the bases and I saw everybody running out. I'm like, 'Calm down! Calm down! Wait, let him touch the plate.' And I was screaming, 'Two-jump minimum!'"

RANGERS TRYING TO STOP THE BLEEDING

Thanks to a four-game skid, the Texas Rangers (26-24) have lost their grip on the AL West lead. But that's not all they've lost.

Adding to the team's frustration is the addition of starting pitcher Derek Holland to the disabled list with a mild case of left rotator cuff inflammation. Holland (2-1, 4.19), who exited Sunday's start after 43 pitches, is expected to be shut down for about a week before he begins throwing again.

According to assistant general manager Thad Levine, the team will likely bring up Triple-A reliever Pedro Strop until Saturday, when a starter will be called up to fill Holland's spot in the rotation. That call is expected to go to right-hander Tommy Hunter, although he struggled in Monday's start for Oklahoma City, allowing five runs on 10 hits in five innings of work. Hunter is 1-2 with a 4.05 ERA in six starts with Oklahoma City this season.

In other injury news, right fielder Nelson Cruz was sent to the DL on Saturday with a torn left hamstring. He is eligible to return June 13, at which time the team hopes he can rejoin the lineup. The Rangers can ill-afford an extended period without Cruz, who was hitting .327 with 10 homers and 34 RBI in 32 games. The injury occurred while he was legging out a ground ball against the Royals on Wednesday. He was already on the DL this season from April 27-May 14 with a strained right hamstring.

A'S MISSING PRODUCTION FROM LEFT SIDE OF INFIELD

The Oakland Athletics (28-24) hold a slim one-game lead atop the AL West, despite very little production lately from third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff or shortstop Cliff Pennington.

Pennington was given the day off this past Thursday, breaking up a string of 92 consecutive starts dating back to last season. He entered Thursday in an 0- for-15 skid, having seen his batting average drop from .272 to .156 over a 20- game span.

His counterpart on the left side of the infield, Kouzmanoff, has endured similar struggles. Through the first seven games of the team's 10-game road trip, Kouzmanoff is hitting just .111 (3-for-27).

Manager Bob Geren downplayed Kouzmanoff's hitting, though he did drop him from fourth to sixth in the lineup for Monday's game.

"He's hit balls pretty good," Geren said. "Just no luck. Sometimes when you look at one week or a span of 10 days, the numbers don't exactly indicate how well they're swinging the bat."

Wwwracing-live Baseball Betting News

<< Serbia coach Antic makes Brkic final cut
Belgrade, Serbia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Goalkeeper Zeljko Brkic was the final man cut from Serbia's World Cup roster Tuesday. Coach Radomir Antic previously trimmed his preliminary team to 24 players and, with four goalkeepers, was likely to tr

<< Greece includes injured duo on Cup team
Athens, Greece (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Greece coach Otto Rehhagel included injured duo Christos Patsatzoglou and Giourkas Seitaridis on his final 23-man team for the World Cup on Tuesday. Patsatzoglou missed most of World Cup qualifying and Seit

<< Japan includes Nakamura on final roster
Tokyo, Japan (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Japan coach Takeshi Okada trimmed his World Cup squad to 23 players Tuesday and injured veteran Shunsuke Nakamura survived the cut as expected. Nakamura missed Sunday's friendly against fellow World Cup qu

<< Bryant has a chance to stamp his legacy
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It took longer than he had hoped but by finally stepping out of Shaquille O'Neal's enormous shadow last season, many felt Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant put the final stamp on a brilliant basketball

<< Slovakia includes injured trio in final roster
Bratislava, Slovakia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Slovakia coach Vladimir Weiss included injured trio Filip Holosko, Martin Skrtel and Robert Vittek on his 23-man team for the World Cup on Tuesday. Skrtel, who plays for Liverpool, is recovering from

Ivory Coast includes six forwards on Cup team >>
Gstaad, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ivory Coast coach Sven-Goran Eriksson included six forwards on his final World Cup roster Tuesday, a group led by Chelsea's Didier Drogba. Salomon Kalou, Aruna Dindane, Seydou Doumbia, Gervinho an

Lidstrom coming back for another season >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom is set to return for the 2010-11 season. Lidstrom's contract expired at the conclusion of this past season and the Red Wings' website said the 40-year-old vetera

Mauer continues to lead AL All-Star balloting >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer is the top vote-getter after the second set of American League All-Star balloting results. The reigning American League Most Valuable Player has drawn 1

Nigeria's Anichebe cut due to injury >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nigeria striker Victor Anichebe was left off the team's World Cup roster due to an injury, it was announced Tuesday. Anichebe, who plays for Everton in the English Premier League, was a notable omissio

Slovenia makes final roster cuts >>
Ljubljana, Slovenia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Slovenia coach Matjaz Kek trimmed his World Cup roster to 23 players Tuesday, making Dejan Kelhar, Darjan Matic and Mirnes Sisic the final three cuts. Matjaz previously trimmed his 30-man preliminary

NFL Football Office Pools : NFL Football Contests

NFL Football Office Pool Printable Schedules

Welcome to our free football office pool page. Run your own NFL Football Office Pool. Create your own pool, invite your friends to join. Compete with your with co-workers, friends or family for bragging rights every week. Exchange some hard hits without risk of injury -- Trash Talk with your fellow co-workers.

Football Pickem Pools: Your basic office pool format, where you pick the winner of each game, either against the spread or straight up. Spice up your pool by using confidence ranks, key picks, and other options. Pick 5 pools available. You can print NFL Football Office Pools here. Custom ranks available. Custom point spreads. Use Pro and/or College games, even D1AA games can be included. Many many other options.

Football Survivor Pools: Also known as Knockout, Suicide, Eliminator, Survival and Loser pools. Pick one team each week. If they win you advance to the next round. If they lose, you're out. The catch: You can only pick a team once. Many options like Pick a Team Only [Once,Twice,Unlimited], [1,2,3,4,5] Strikes and You're Out, Double Picks, Bye Weeks, Alias Entries and more. Very easy to set up and manage.

Football Share Pools: Pick college and/or pro football game winners using Vegas odds in our own unique Share Pool format. Accumulate points by picking pointspread and over/under winners. Risk as many points as you want on any game. The person with the most points (shares) at the end wins. Perfect for the Playoffs and Bowl Seasons.

Fantasy Football Pools: Fantasy football pool managers love our easy to use interface and custom settings. Points and head to head leagues, custom points, offline drafts, live scoring, waiver wire, trades and more. Live customer service by email or phone. $50 flat fee.

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.

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