Braden faces Angels in first start since perfecto

Baseball Betting Lines

05/14/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Now that the dust has settled on the 19th perfect game in Major League history and all the television appearances have subsided, Oakland Athletics starter Dallas Braden will get back to work tonight in the opener of a three-game road series versus the rival LA Angels of Anaheim.

Braden tossed the second perfect game in the history of the Athletics last Sunday in a 4-0 win against the Tampa Bay Rays at the Coliseum. He struck out six batters and became the first A's pitcher to record a perfect game since Jim "Catfish" Hunter accomplished the feat on May 8, 1968 against Minnesota. Braden's perfect game was the 14th no-hitter in the history of the franchise and first since Dave Stewart turned the trick on June 29, 1990 at Toronto.

The left-handed Braden needed just 109 pitches to complete the remarkable performance and is the first pitcher to throw a perfect game since Mark Buehrle tossed one for the Chicago White Sox on July 23, 2009. Braden is also the second pitcher this season to throw a no-hitter in the majors, as Colorado ace Ubaldo Jimenez no-hit the Atlanta Braves on April 17. Johnny Vander Meer is the only pitcher in history to throw no-hitters in consecutive starts.

Braden is 4-2 with a 3.33 ERA in seven 2010 starts and ended a personal two- game losing streak against the Rays. He beat the Angels on April 11 by holding them to three runs in six innings of a 9-4 victory. Braden is 2-3 in 10 career games, six of which have been starts, against Anaheim.

Oakland dropped the last two portions of its three-game series at Texas earlier in the week and suffered a 2-1 loss in 12 innings in yesterday's finale. Vladimir Guerrero drove in Michael Young in the bottom of the 12th off of A's closer Andrew Bailey to lead the Rangers.

"I just missed my spot," Bailey said on the team's site. "That's when you go back to the drawing board and come back out there the next day."

Jake Fox had three hits and Josh Donaldson knocked in the lone run for Oakland, which got six innings of one-run ball and eight strikeouts from starter Ben Sheets.

The Athletics had won three in a row and five of six games prior to their two straight losses to Texas. They are now two games behind the Rangers for the lead in the American League West division.

Meanwhile, the Angels have been struggling lately and are coming off consecutive losses versus the Rays after winning Monday's series opener. In Wednesday's 4-3 setback at the Big A, Anaheim starter Jered Weaver fanned a career-high 12 batters but came out on the losing end, as he gave up six hits and four runs -- one earned -- over seven innings.

"I tried to keep my team in the game and I did that," Weaver said. "The 12 strikeouts would have looked a lot better if we won the game, 4-3."

Howie Kendrick ended with three hits and drove in a run for the Angels, who lost for the 10th time in 13 tries.

The Angels, who are a game ahead of last-place Seattle in the AL West, will send Joe Saunders to the mound Friday night. Saunders lost his first two starts of the season before winning his only game so far in 2010, when he allowed two unearned runs in eight innings at Toronto on April 17.

Since then he's 0-3 with an 8.31 earned run average in four starts and last took the hill in a 4-3 Angels' victory at Seattle last Saturday. Saunders did not record a decision and gave up three runs -- one earned -- in 5 2/3 innings of work. He lost to Oakland back on April 11, when he was reached for four runs in six innings of a 9-4 defeat to Braden.

In 15 career starts against the Athletics, Saunders is a solid 9-4 with a 4.13 earned run average.

Oakland won two of three meetings with Anaheim back in early April, but the Angels are 12-7 in the last 19 matchups between the division foes.

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Football Betting Lines

The 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year odds have been released and Denver Broncos' running back Knowshon Moreno has been made the opening favorite.

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Moreno was selected in the first round of April's NFL draft and is expected to carry the rushing load for the Broncos this season. And with Jay Cutler now in Chicago, Moreno might be expected to be Denver's entire offense.

Betting Lines from sports betting lines have made Moreno a 5/2 favorite to win this year's Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. Fellow running back Chris “Beanie” Wells (Arizona Cardinals) is right behind Moreno at 7/2, while Donald Brown (Indianapolis Colts) and receiver Michael Crabtree (San Francisco 49ers) are 5/1 to win. Quarterbacks Mark Sanchez (New York Jets) and Matthew Stafford (Detroit Lions) are 7/1 and 8/1, respectively.

A couple of players who present some value are Josh Freeman, Shonn Green and Darrius Heyward-Bey.

Freeman needs to beat out Byron Leftwich to become the starting quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but if he does, he has a lot or raw talent and could use the weapons around him (i.e. Kellen Winslow Jr. and Antonio Bryant) to be very successful in his first season.

Green enters a crowded backfield in New York, but considering both Thomas Jones and Leon Washington are unhappy about their contract situations and might holdout, the former Iowa product could become the Jets' primary back.

Everyone was shocked when Al Davis took Heyward-Bey with the eighth overall pick in April's draft, but the kid has a tremendous amount of talent and if quarterback JaMarcus Russell takes the next step this year, the former Maryland product could blossom. Plus, Heyward-Bey will be looking to prove the people wrong who said Oakland should have taken Michael Crabtree with the No. 8 pick.

And if you're looking for a deep sleeper, check out Pat White at 30/1. He enters the Miami Dolphins vaunted “Wild Cat” offense and could be a big time playmaker.

For complete odds on the 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year odds, see below.

2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Odds to Win

Ramses Barden (NYG) 40/1

Andre Brown (NYG) 20/1

Donald Brown (IND) 5/1

Kenny Britt (TEN) 20/1

Glenn Coffee (SFO) 30/1

Chase Coffman (CIN) 50/1

Michael Crabtree (SFO) 5/1

Josh Freeman (TB) 14/1

Shonn Green (NYJ) 14/1

Percy Harvin (MIN) 10/1

Darrius Heyward-Bay (OAK) 18/1

Juaquan Iglesias (CHI) 30/1

Cornelius Ingram (PHI) 50/1

Rashad Jennings (JAC) 30/1

Johnny Knox (CHI) 40/1

Jeremy Maclin (PHI) 18/1

Mohamed Massaquoi (CLE) 30/1

LeSean McCoy (PHI) 12/1

Knowshon Moreno (DEN) 5/2

Hakeem Nicks (NYG) 18/1

Brandon Pettigrew (DET) 30/1

Brian Robiskie (CLE) 20/1

Mark Sanchez (NYJ) 7/1

Matthew Stafford (DET) 8/1

Jason Smith (STL) 40/1

Mike Thomas (JAC) 25/1

Patrick Turner (MIA) 50/1

Mike Wallace (PIT) 50/1

Chris Wells (ARI) 7/2

Pat White (MIA) 30/1

Field (Any Other Player) 9/1

Betting Line

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.