Mound Presence: A's lefty Braden faces Yankees again

Baseball Betting Lines

09/02/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oakland Athletics starter Dallas Braden won't have to worry about Alex Rodriguez running across his pitching mound this afternoon due to the slugging third baseman currently being on the disabled list.

Braden, making his first appearance against the Yankees since his verbal spat with A-Rod, will have plenty of other concerns in today's finale of a four- game series as New York's CC Sabathia aims to become baseball's first 19-game winner and extend his 20-start home unbeaten streak.

The 26-year-old Braden got the best of the Yankees at home on April 22 with six innings of two-run ball, Oakland's lone victory in nine meetings with New York this year, but his victory was overshadowed by his jawing with Rodriguez after the former MVP jogged across the pitcher's mound following a fouled-off pitch.

Braden said he felt Rodriguez violated an unwritten rule in baseball.

"You don't run across a pitcher's mound in between an inning or during a game," Braden said. "I was just dumbfounded that he would let that slip his mind. If he wants to run across the pitcher's mound, let him go run laps in the bullpen."

Braden and Rodriguez won't rematch tonight as the New York third baseman has been on the DL since Aug. 21 due to a strained left calf.

"He just told me to get off his mound," Rodriguez said. "It was a little surprising, I never quite heard that, especially from a guy that has a handful of wins in his career."

Perhaps motivated by Rodriguez's comments, Braden threw a perfect game three starts after the Yankees win versus the Rays on May 9. He hurled his second career shutout and fifth complete game of the season last time out on Friday in Texas, a four-hitter in which he did not walk a batter.

The left-hander improved to 3-1 over his last four starts and is 9-9 with a 3.28 earned run average this year. Braden, though, is just 1-1 with a 5.87 ERA in five games versus the Yankees, two starts.

Braden will find it tough to pick up a win at Yankee Stadium today given that Sabathia hasn't lost on his home mound in over a year. He is 15-0 with a 2.17 ERA over his 20-game home unbeaten streak that dates back to July 18, 2009 and is the longest for a New York pitcher since Ron Guidry posted 16 straight winning decisions at home in 1985-86.

The 30-year-old Sabathia has won his last five starts overall, but was a little off in his last win at the White Sox on Saturday as he allowed five runs over seven innings in a 12-9 triumph. The left-hander still became baseball's first 18-game winner and has a 3.14 ERA on the season.

After losing to Braden back in April, Sabathia struck out 10 batters over 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball to best hosting Oakland on July 6. He improved to 6-8 with a 5.36 ERA in 20 career starts against the A's.

While Braden is starting opposite one of the top pitchers in baseball, he also has to deal with a red-hot Mark Teixeira, who is 8-for-10 in this series with two homers and seven RBI. New York's first baseman had three hits and three RBI in last night's 4-3 victory, helping A.J. Burnett earn his first victory since July 28.

"It is a good win for me, but my numbers are not important. I'm trying to get some good momentum in this last month," said Burnett after allowing three runs over six innings.

New York's fifth straight win -- its longest since a seven-game run from July 3-9 -- maintained a one-game lead over the Rays at the top of the American League East standings.

Brett Anderson took the loss for Oakland despite allowing a single earned run and eight hits in six innings. However, it was the lefty's throwing error that ultimately led to three Yankee runs in the second.

Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a two-run homer in the setback, which dropped Oakland to 4-5 on a 10-game road trip and 9 1/2 games behind AL West-leading Texas.

New York has won six in a row over Oakland and has won 19 of the past 22 meetings between the clubs.

Wwwsunsentinel Baseball Betting News

<< LPGA Taiwan to start in 2011
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The LPGA Tour announced Thursday that the LPGA Taiwan has been scheduled for October 2011 at Sunrise Golf & Country Club. The LPGA-sanctioned event will be co-sponsored by the Golf Associati

<< Skidding Indians head out west to battle Mariners
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians will take their four-game losing streak out west for seven straight games starting with tonight's opener of a four-game series against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field. The Indians are coming off

<< Twins seek to sweep Tigers out of Minnesota
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The American League Central-leading Minnesota Twins will continue their homestand tonight and try for a second sweep of the Detroit Tigers this season in the finale of a three-game series at Target Field. The Twins have wo

<< Red Sox aim to stay in playoff mix, take series from O's
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox have missed the playoffs only once in the previous seven years, but are in danger of being left out for the first time since the 2006 campaign. The Red Sox are seven games off the wild card lead and eigh

<< Golf Tidbits: Too little, too late for PGA Tour?
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A week after Jim Furyk overslept and missed his pro-am tee time, the PGA Tour suspended its own rule that disqualifies a player for missing a pro-am. But has the damage been done? Furyk would probably argu

Phillies make a quick stop at Colorado >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Given how well the Phillies have played out west over the last week, they certainly won't mind staying there for an extra game. It doesn't hurt that its a matchup against the Rockies either. Philadelphia will try

Braves' Hudson aims to shut down Mets in series finale >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Offense has been tough to come by for the Mets in their current series with the Braves. It should be even tougher tonight with Tim Hudson, the National League's earned run average leader, set to take the hill. Huds

USA finishes unbeaten in FIBA preliminary round >>
Istanbul, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Gordon scored a game-high 21 points, leading the United States in a 92-57 rout of Tunisia to finish up an unblemished record in the preliminary round of the 2010 FIBA World Champio

Golf Course Review - TPC Jasna Polana >>
Princeton, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FACTS AND STATS: Course Architect: Gary Player (1998). Year Opened: June, 1998. Location: Princeton, New Jersey. Slope: 144. Rating: 74.8. Par: 72. Yardage: 7,098. Hole-by-Hole: 1 - Par 4 396 Yds 10 - P

Temple Owls hope to rule MAC roost >>
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -Here's a first: Temple is picked to win the MAC.Gone are the days when it seemed like a winless season for the Owls was a real possibility. Coach Al Golden says fans approach him asking for a bowl game in a warmer climate and coun

Super Bowl XLIII Betting - Super Bowl 2009

Super Bowl 2009, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Let’s take a look at the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds and the betting line and figure out where they’ve been and where they are going to go.

MySportsbook.com put up the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds late on Sunday night with the Pittsburgh Steelers favored by 6.5 points and a total betting line at 47.5 points.

Since then, however, the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds have seen a good deal of movement and you’ll want to be on top of where they are likely to move to make sure you get the best line value for the big game.

Since opening, the Super Bowl 2009 betting lines went to Steelers -7 in the span of roughly 3 hours but were quickly bought back down just minutes later to 6.5 again.

After that is took about 5-6 more hours before the betting line went back to -7 where it has sat for a while now and is likely to remain. The opening betting total of 47.5 was bet down right after the line became available and went to 47 within minutes.

Roughly a day later it has been bet even further down to the 46.5 tally it currently is set at.

Roughly 60% of gamblers seem to be on the Cardinals here so the point spread will be bet down and a 7.5 would not last very long at all with many taking the early 6.5 in hopes of finding a potential middle in the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds.

If you like Arizona and see a 7.5, I’d take it as soon as possible because it’s unlikely to last. For Pittsburgh backers, the -7 might be the best you’ll be able to find but a 6.5 is definitely possible close to game time.

Regarding the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds for the total, most tracked gamblers are already on the over and with those who took the under 47.5 already securing a middle on the over 46.5, the only way I see it moving is back up to 47 so if you like the over, I’d recommend betting now.

Get free Super Bowl XLIII Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online Super Bowl betting with credit cards