White Sox, Yankees close out series in Windy City
Baseball Betting Lines
08/29/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. Cellular Field is the site of this afternoon's rubber match of a three-game series between the hometown White Sox and visiting New York Yankees.
Ivan Nova will make his second Major League start today against Chicago, and Yankees fans were likely impressed with what they saw on Monday in the debut. Nova, a 23-year-old fireballer, allowed two runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings and didn't figure in the decision against Toronto. At 6-foot-4 with a high-90s fastball, Nova is a top-level prospect.
Slated to oppose Nova will be Gavin Floyd, who has posted a 9-10 record with a 3.91 ERA to date. Floyd is 6-3 with a 3.73 ERA at home, and he is coming off a home victory over the Orioles on Tuesday. Today's game marks Floyd's 27th start of the season.
Floyd doesn't have much of a track record against the Yankees, as he owns a 1-0 record with a 4.94 ERA in four career appearances against New York.
Rookie Eduardo Nunez hit his first career home run and drove in a total of four runs yesterday, as the Yankees outlasted the White Sox, 12-9.
Marcus Thames homered twice for the Yankees, who remained tied atop the American League East standings with the Rays, who defeated the Red Sox on Saturday. Nick Swisher hit a two-run homer and knocked in a total of three runs.
CC Sabathia (18-5) went seven innings in the start, allowing five runs on nine hits to pick up his fifth straight win and MLB-best 18th victory. The left- hander also struck out nine and walked one.
"The guys did a great job of keeping us in the game," said Sabathia. "I tried to give it up, but they backed me up and kept scoring runs and we were able to pull out the win."
Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira left the game in the top of the third with a bruised right thumb and is considered day-to-day.
Paul Konerko, Alexei Ramirez, and Andruw Jones each homered for the White Sox, who now sit 4 1/2 games behind Minnesota in the AL Central standings after the Twins beat the Mariners on Saturday.
John Danks (12-9) lasted just 4 1/3 frames, giving up eight runs on six hits to suffer the loss. He also fanned five batters and walked four.
"The fact is that we need to win more games than the Twins," said Danks. "We have plenty of time to make up the games we need, but I need to pitch better and help the other guys carry the load."
New York took two of three games from Chicago in the Bronx earlier this season, but lost three of four to the Sox in its lone visit to U.S. Cellular Field in 2009.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles have an opportunity to earn a rare sweep today as they visit the LA Angels of Anaheim in the final of three weekend games. Baltimore will give the ball to Jeremy Guthrie, and like the vast m
<< Twins have brooms ready for Mariners
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road sweep of the lowly Seattle Mariners today at Safeco Field.
Carl Pavano, one of the majors' most surprising performers in 2010, will take
the ball for Minn
<< Richard, Padres aim to salvage set with Phils
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unbeaten streak intact and pull San Diego to victory this afternoon against
the Philadelphia Phillies in the finale of a three-game series at Petco Park.
Richa
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Cardinals co-ace Adam Wainwright will try to
become the first 18-game winner in the National League when he takes the ball
Sunday afternoon in the finale of a four-game series from Nationals Park.
Wainwrigh
<< Reds, Cubs conclude set in Cincy
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie left-hander Travis Wood steps into Edinson Volquez's
spot in the Cincinnati starting rotation today, when the first-place Reds
close out a three-game weekend series with the visiting Chicago Cubs at Great
America
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers will continue their journey to an AL West title tonight, when they close out a three-game series with second-place Oakland in Arlington. Gio Gonzalez will get the ball for the Athletics this after
Rays face Red Sox in series finale at the Trop >>
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in Tampa, as the hometown Rays host the Boston Red Sox in the rubber match of
a three-game set from Tropicana Field.
A pair of successful hurlers will battle th
Indians aim for sweep of visiting Royals >>
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Cleveland ensues this afternoon, as the two worst teams in the AL Central get
together again at Progressive Field.
Bruce Chen is slated to make his 17th star
Detroit hands ball to Porcello in finale at Toronto >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays close out a four-
game weekend set at Rogers Centre this afternoon.
Detroit will give the ball to Rick Porcello, and the second-year hurler is
just 6-11 this season with a 5
Report: Jets LB Pace has broken foot, out six weeks >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Jets linebacker Calvin Pace
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suffere
Big 12 Conference betting odds
Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State
Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.
Work left to do:
Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.
Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.
Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.