Byrd is the word: Rangers try for split with Indians

Baseball Betting Lines

07/22/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Having snapped a three-game slide on Saturday, the Texas Rangers close out a four-game set against the Cleveland Indians tonight at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Marlon Byrd erupted for five RBI, matching a career-high, as the Rangers brought home an 8-5 victory against Cleveland on Saturday. Michael Young and Mark Teixeira both scored a pair of runs for the home team as well. Designated hitter Sammy Sosa was not around to see the end of the game after being hit in the helmet with a pitch in the third inning.

Rangers starter Jamey Wright made it through just 3 1/3 innings, giving up three runs -- one earned -- on one hit with six walks and one strikeout. Ron Mahay picked up the win, permitting one run, two hits and striking out five in 2 2/3 innings of relief.

Cleveland starter Cliff Lee was saddled with the loss as he went 6 2/3 innings, allowing seven runs on eight hits with one walk and five strikeouts.

Grady Sizemore posted his 17th home run of the season for the Tribe, plating a pair of runs in the contest, while Ryan Garko picked up a pair of hits to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 15 games as the team had it's two- game win streak snapped.

A couple of former Phillies head to the mound for their respective teams this evening as Paul Byrd throws for the visiting Indians and Robinson Tejada goes for Texas.

Byrd, who is on his sixth different major league team in his 12th season in the majors, earned a victory against the Rangers in late April, but is still without a victory during the month of July versus any adversary.

On Tuesday the Louisiana State product was tagged for four runs on six hits over six innings of work versus the White Sox. While the Tribe eventually came away with the 6-5 victory, Byrd was left without a decision.

Despite his win earlier in the campaign, Byrd is still just 2-5 with a hefty 7.02 ERA against the Rangers all-time.

Tejada, who broke into the majors with Philadelphia a couple years back, has not logged a win since defeating Milwaukee during interleague action in early June. Most recently the right-hander threw 4 1/3 innings versus Oakland and while his three runs on four hits was somewhat acceptable, his six walks for the second time in the last three games was certainly not.

To this point in the season Tejada, who is getting his first look at Cleveland, has issued 55 bases-on-balls against just 65 strikeouts.

Over the last week of play Garko has been huge for the Tribe, picking up 12 hits, scored eight times and knocking in six runs. As a team Cleveland, which is now two games behind Detroit for first place in the American League Central, is hitting a strong .291 in the last seven games and averaging better than five runs per outing.

The Rangers, last in the AL West while playing 13 games under .500, are hitting a collective .256 over the last week and while Byrd has boosted his RBI total to a team-best eight, he is still batting just .226 during that span.

Prior to Saturday's loss, the Tribe had won every meeting of the season versus Texas and six straight overall dating back to 2006.

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Super Bowl 2009 Betting

Super Bowl 2009 Betting propositions

Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.

Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.

Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.

If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.

Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.

By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.

In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.

So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.

While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.

There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.

In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:

SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.

XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.

XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.

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