Halladay, Wang square off in Bronx
Baseball Betting Lines
07/04/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In his second start since coming off the disabled list, Roy Halladay will take the mound for the Blue Jays when Toronto takes on the New York Yankees in the second matchup of a four-game stint at Yankee Stadium.
The strong right-hander suffered his second loss of the season in his last start, allowing two runs in six innings against Tampa Bay. However, despite the setback, Halladay has been one of the top pitchers in all of baseball and is currently 10-2 on the season with an outstanding 2.56 ERA.
The Yankees are very familiar with Toronto's ace, however, the team has not enjoyed much success against him, as Halladay has posted a 16-5 ledger with a 2.79 earned run average in 33 appearances against the Bronx Bombers.
As for the Yankees they will turn to Chien-Ming Wang, who has been brutal throughout most of the season. Wang has just one victory in his last 10 appearances, and on the season the right-hander is just 1-6 with an astronomical 10.06 earned run average.
His lone victory came in his last start, as the Taiwanese native led New York to a 4-2 victory over its NL counterpart, the New York Mets. Wang tossed 5 1/3 innings against the Mets, surrendering just two runs on four hits.
Wang has made nine career starts against the Blue Jays, and has a 4-2 record with a 4.63 ERA.
Yesterday, Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez each homered as New York doubled up Toronto, 4-2. Mark Teixeira added a hit and an RBI for the Yankees, who have won eight of their last nine.
A.J. Burnett (7-4), facing his former club for the second time in 2009, went seven innings for the win, scattering six hits and two runs, fanning seven with a pair of walks.
"I made just one mistake the whole game," said Burnett. "Everything went well mechanically and as long as I can keep the ball away from the hitters things will go well."
Mariano Rivera recorded the final three outs to earn his 21st save.
Vernon Wells collected two hits including a homer and Alex Rios drove in the other run for the Blue Jays, who have dropped six of eight.
Brian Tallet (5-6) lasted six innings in the loss, charged with six hits and three runs -- two earned -- with four walks and three strikeouts.
"Both guys pitched great," said Toronto manager Cito Gaston. "The walks won the game for them and A-Rod hit a big home run for them. I think both teams hit the ball the same way, but they came out on top."
The Yankees won two of three matchups in Toronto from May 12-14 and have won five of the seven most recent meetings between the teams.
Today, of course is the 70th anniversary of Lou Gehrig's "Luckiest Man" speech and the Yankees will honor one of their greatest players with a video tribute that includes current players reciting portions of his speech, as well as wearing a "4ALS" patch and the No. 4 will be on first base.
The Yankees also will contribute $25,000 to the ALS Association of Greater New York.
BC-AAN;PREVIEW-TOR-NYY
=== Halladay, Wang square off in Bronx ===
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In his second start since coming off the disabled list, Roy Halladay will take the mound for the Blue Jays when Toronto takes on the New York Yankees in the second matchup of a four-game stint at Yankee Stadium.
The strong right-hander suffered his second loss of the season in his last start, allowing two runs in six innings against Tampa Bay. However, despite the setback, Halladay has been one of the top pitchers in all of baseball and is currently 10-2 on the season with an outstanding 2.56 ERA.
The Yankees are very familiar with Toronto's ace, however, the team has not enjoyed much success against him, as Halladay has posted a 16-5 ledger with a 2.79 earned run average in 33 appearances against the Bronx Bombers.
As for the Yankees they will turn to Chien-Ming Wang, who has been brutal throughout most of the season. Wang has just one victory in his last 10 appearances, and on the season the right-hander is just 1-6 with an astronomical 10.06 earned run average.
His lone victory came in his last start, as the Taiwanese native led New York to a 4-2 victory over its NL counterpart, the New York Mets. Wang tossed 5 1/3 innings against the Mets, surrendering just two runs on four hits.
Wang has made nine career starts against the Blue Jays, and has a 4-2 record with a 4.63 ERA.
Yesterday, Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez each homered as New York doubled up Toronto, 4-2. Mark Teixeira added a hit and an RBI for the Yankees, who have won eight of their last nine.
A.J. Burnett (7-4), facing his former club for the second time in 2009, went seven innings for the win, scattering six hits and two runs, fanning seven with a pair of walks.
"I made just one mistake the whole game," said Burnett. "Everything went well mechanically and as long as I can keep the ball away from the hitters things will go well."
Mariano Rivera recorded the final three outs to earn his 21st save.
Vernon Wells collected two hits including a homer and Alex Rios drove in the other run for the Blue Jays, who have dropped six of eight.
Brian Tallet (5-6) lasted six innings in the loss, charged with six hits and three runs -- two earned -- with four walks and three strikeouts.
"Both guys pitched great," said Toronto manager Cito Gaston. "The walks won the game for them and A-Rod hit a big home run for them. I think both teams hit the ball the same way, but they came out on top."
The Yankees won two of three matchups in Toronto from May 12-14 and have won five of the seven most recent meetings between the teams.
Today, of course is the 70th anniversary of Lou Gehrig's "Luckiest Man" speech a
The Yankees also will contribute $25,000 to the ALS Association of Greater New Y
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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting
NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.
That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.
A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."
It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.
The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.
So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."
Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.
Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.
Seriously.
The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.
The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.
Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."
The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.
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