Angels try to avoid rare sweep at hands of Indians

Baseball Betting Lines

09/08/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Angels haven't been swept by Cleveland at home in more than a decade. They'll try to avoid that distinction tonight in the finale of a three-game series from the Big A.

Anaheim was previously swept in this series from August 9-11, 1999 and suffered a 6-1 drubbing in Tuesday's second portion of this set. Trevor Bell earned the start for the Halos and suffered the loss for allowing the first two runs on four hits and three walks over 5 1/3 innings. Francisco Rodriguez was reached for four runs in the sixth inning.

"Trevor never got into a rhythm," said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. "We had one bad inning, and they were patient and got the home run. We have to clean some stuff up."

Reggie Willits had three hits and Torii Hunter cracked his 21st home run of the season for the Angels, losers in five straight at home and 15 of the past 21 games overall. LA, which is still 9 1/2 games behind Texas for the American League West lead, hasn't dropped six in a row as the host since 2002.

Since winning four consecutive starts in June, Angels starter Scott Kazmir has dropped three straight and eight of his previous nine trips to the hill with a 7.74 earned run average over that period. Kazmir will take the mound tonight and is coming off Friday's 8-0 loss at Oakland in which he tossed 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball and walked a season-high six batters.

The lefty is 8-13 with a 6.19 ERA in 23 starts this season and hasn't fared too well at home, going 2-7 in nine starts at the Big A. Kazmir is 1-2 with a 7.07 ERA in six career starts against the Tribe.

Cleveland has won two in a row and four of its last six games, and hasn't recorded a sweep since taking all four meetings with Detroit from July 16-18. In Tuesday's five-run victory over the Angels, Lou Marson hit a grand slam to highlight a five-run sixth inning and Travis Hafner led off the frame with a solo shot for the Indians.

Justin Masterson got the start for Cleveland and posted the win by holding Los Angeles to a run on six hits and two walks with five K's in seven frames.

"I had good control with my mechanics," Masterson said. "I kept the ball down in the zone, and I had some good defense. Things are coming together."

Rookie Josh Tomlin gets the starting nod for the Tribe tonight and he's aiming for his third straight victory. He defeated Seattle last Thursday at Safeco Field and hurled six innings of three-run ball while striking out five batters. The right-hander improved to 3-3 in seven starts with a 4.14 earned run average.

Tomlin is 1-2 in four away appearances this season and has never faced the Angels.

Anaheim took two of three at home over the Indians back in April and has won six of the last 10 overall meetings.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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