Red Sox shoot for third straight win against battling M's

Baseball Betting Lines

07/24/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox try to make it three straight wins this evening when they continue their four-game set against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field.

The Red Sox will turn to Jon Lester to keep them in the win column, as the southpaw will take the hill trying to rebound from his fourth loss on the season. In the 4-2 setback to Texas on Sunday, Lester surrendered four runs -- three earned -- on nine hits, but he also struck out six batters in eight innings.

The loss halted Lester's personal three-game winning streak.

Lester has been solid throughout the season, especially on the road where the Washington native is 5-2 in nine starts, and that comes with an impressive 2.78 earned run average.

However, Lester has endured struggles against Seattle in his career, posting just a 1-1 mark with a lackluster 4.55 ERA in five outings.

Taking on Boston will be a former player from the organization in David Pauley. Pauley, who participated in nine combined games for the Red Sox in 2006 and 2008, will be making his third start on the season since being called up from Tacoma back on June 27th. Both of Pauley's starts have come at home, but in both matchups the right-hander was defeated.

The last time Pauley took the hill he surrendered three runs on eight hits in a 6-1 setback to Chicago.

Last night, Bill Hall hit the go-ahead home run in the seventh inning and Josh Beckett pitched into the sixth in his first appearance in over two months as Boston edged the Mariners, 2-1.

Beckett had been sidelined with a lower back strain. In his first game since May 18, the right-hander went 5 2/3 innings, yielding one run on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts. He threw 98 pitches, 62 for strikes.

The Red Sox blew a five-run lead in the ninth inning on Thursday, but managed to win the opener of the four-game series, 8-6, in 13 innings. Jonathan Papelbon, who was part of that ninth-inning collapse, escaped a jam in the final frame Friday for his 22nd save of the year.

The Mariners not only suffered their eighth loss in 10 games, but tempers boiled over in a skirmish in the team's dugout in the fifth inning apparently over a lackadaisical effort in the top portion of the frame by second baseman Chone Figgins.

Josh Wilson was already warming up to replace Figgins when Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu told Figgins that he was being removed from the game.

"I don't think you can point a finger at anyone," said the Mariners' Russell Branyan. "I just think that Wak walked down there and told Figgy that he was done and Figgy wanted to explain his side of the story, how the play went down. That was pretty much it and I think that some tempers flared a little. That's about it."

Lopez had his jersey pulled over his head as a cluster of players came together in the dugout. Figgins and Lopez were being held back by teammates on one side of the dugout, while Wakamatsu appeared to be at the other end and also part of the argument.

"In the fifth inning I didn't think there was much effort on that back-up," Wakamatsu said. "One thing people have to understand, everybody in that dugout cares and tempers fly a little bit. What happens in there stays in there."

Boston is 9-4 in the past 13 contests in this series.

Casinos--sportsbooks Baseball Betting News

<< Twins send Baker to hill in Baltimore
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Struggling to keep pace with the White Sox and Tigers in the AL Central, the Twins will try to solve their road woes when Minnesota battles the Baltimore Orioles in the third installment of a four-game set this evening at Cam

<< Oswalt toes the hill for Astros against Reds
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran right-hander Rot Oswalt makes what could be one of the last starts of his Houston career tonight when the Astros meet the Cincinnati Reds in the middle test of a three-game series at Minute Maid Park. Oswalt, a Hou

<< Bumgarner takes aim at fourth straight win at Chase Field
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Madison Bumgarner shoots for his fourth straight win this evening when the San Francisco Giants continue their four-game set against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Bumgarner has been sensational over his winning

<< Marlins attempt to go over. 500 against Braves
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins try to go above .500 for the first time since early June this evening when they continue their three-game set with the Atlanta Braves at Sun Life Stadium. Florida won in dramatic fashion on Friday, as

<< Rays eye first win in Cleveland in nearly five years
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay has had a hard time winning in Cleveland. Hopefully its ace can turn things around, as the Rays send David Price to the mound this evening trying to stop the Cleveland Indians' incredible 18-game home winning streak

Parra tries to get on track against Nats >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lefty Manny Parra can end a personal two-start losing streak while giving Milwaukee a second straight win tonight when the Brewers host the Washington Nationals in the middle game of a three-game series at Miller Park. On

Johnson joins Choi in first at Scandinavian Masters >>
Stockholm, Sweden (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sweden's own Richard S. Johnson posted a two-under 70 on Saturday to join second-round leader K.J. Choi in first place after the 54 holes of the Scandinavian Masters. Johnson and Choi, who had a one-u

Pressel back in front in France >>
Evian-les-Bains, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Morgan Pressel eagled the final hole Saturday for a five-under 67 and the third-round lead of the Evian Masters. Pressel, who shared the first-round lead at Evian Masters Golf Club, fini

Bacsinszky beats Meusburger in rainy Austria >>
Bad Gastein, Austria (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland beat Austrian crowd favorite Yvonne Meusburger in the semifinals of the Gastein Ladies tennis tournament on Saturday. The second-seeded Bacsinszky rallied for a 1-

Buchholz returns for Rockies >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies have activated pitcher Taylor Buchholz off the 60-day disabled list. Buchholz has not pitched in the majors since September 9, 2008. He sat out all of last season because of e

MySportsbook.com favors Bears, Bengals, Chargers and Colts to remain perfect

LAS VEGAS , Sept. 28 - Two big match-ups of undefeated teams have fans salivating at the Week Four schedule in the NFL. The Chicago Bears stifling defense looks to provide a less than hospitable welcome to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in a battle of two 3-0 teams in the NFC conference. In the AFC, the San Diego Chargers (2-0) head to Maryland to face the surprising Baltimore Ravens (3-0) as both try to keep pace atop the conference standings. Betting Lines makers at MySportsbook.com, online sportsbook and casino, have set the Bears as 3.5 point favorites while the Chargers are a 2.5 point bet.

Of the three remaining undefeated teams, only one, New Orleans, enters this week's game as an underdog. Despite an emotional and resounding win over Atlanta on Monday night, the Saints are a 7.5 point underdog against the struggling Carolina Panthers. Indianapolis looks to stay perfect when they face the New York Jets as a 9 point road favorite while the Cincinnati Bengals are a 6 point favorite at home to the New England Patriots.

Six teams enter the week still looking for their first win, with a seventh, Tampa Bay, on a bye week. The prospect of dropping another game would not bode well for a potential playoff run. Since 1990, just three teams -- the 1992 Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions and 1998 Buffalo Bills -- have overcome losing their first three games of the season to earn a postseason berth. And only the Chargers managed to accomplish the feat after starting 0-4.

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

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

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.