Author: horse-racing-free-tips

Any time you start think about investing money in a defending World Champion you do so with a great deal of risk as Las Vegas linemakers are going to make you pay a premium to back them.

Case in point is the Chicago White Sox who stunned the world last year when they knocked off the Houston Astros and stormed out of the gate this year, in impressive fashion.

In recent days though the Ozzie Guillen led team have shown some cracks in the armor and when this happens, you can usually look at the pitching staff as the culprit. They have now lost three in a row and both Jose Contreras and Freddy Garcia were both lir up pretty good by the Cleveland Indians.

Garcia leads the team with 7 victories but those numbers are very misleading and this guy barely gets his fastball past 85 mph on a good day. His ERA is 4.57 and he has given up 74 hits in 69 innings. Meanwhile John Garland as usual is giving up a plethora of homeruns, but he is also not striking anyone out with just 33 K’s in 63 innings.

Chicago returns to the friendly confines of US Cellular Field this weekend to host a Texas team that is surging and leads the AL West. The White Sox have lost five of their last six games to the Rangers (28-25) overall, but have won four of the last five meetings at U.S. Cellular Field.

Texas has won five of its last seven contests and leads the AL West by 3 1/2 games over Oakland.

Jon Garland (4-2, 6.25 ERA) is 1-0 with a 2.75 ERA in three home starts this season. He won on the road Sunday, despite allowing five runs and seven hits in six innings of a 7-5 victory over the Blue Jays. Toronto hit three home runs off of Garland, increasing the 26-year-old right-hander’s season total to 16 homers allowed — the second-most in the majors.

The Rangers open their 10-game road trip with 24-year-old right-hander Kameron Loe (3-5, 4.48) taking the mound on Friday. Loe is 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA in two career games against the White Sox.

Garland will have his hands full with the red hot Texas hitters, especially Mark Teixeira who is 10-for-28 (.357) with two homers and three doubles in his last eight games, and is 7-for-16 (.438) with two homers, three doubles and 11 RBIs in his career against Garland.

I look for the White Sox to continue slumping and must lean to the Rangers tonight!

Bob Acton

Online Sports Betting

There has to be at least one gambling fan of the Cincinnati Reds in America who woke up May 31st after the Reds had lost their first two games of the road trip to the Cubbies and decided the Reds would win that day!

John Q Public then probably decided to take the Big Red Machine in Texas as they played the Astros and by the time they left the Lone Star state had compiled a nice big bankroll as Cinci swept Houston. Next stop was the “Show Me” state of Missouri and could Reds bettor have the guts to play them against the vaunted Cardinals? Why not as Pujols is on the shelf, and the Reds are pounding the ball!

If Reds fan backed them all the way through Houston and St. Louis he is one happy camper today as they have reeled off 7 in a row and head home to Ohio, to face Chicago. Tonight I would be betting with the whole bankroll as the Reds look like a mortal lock.

The Reds are averaging 7.4 runs while batting .303 with 13 home runs during their winning streak, and have not won eight consecutive games since winning 10 straight from June 21-July 1, 1999.
Ken Griffey Jr. did not play Wednesday because of a tight left quadriceps muscle, but Reds manager Jerry Narron expects him back in the lineup for Thursday’s contest.

Griffey is batting .471 (16-for-34) with four home runs and eight RBIs during an eight-game hitting streak. Adam Dunn is 11-for-29 (.379) with five home runs in eight games against the Cubs this season, and is 10-for-25 (.400) with six homers and 12 RBIs in his career against Thursday’s Cubs starter, Glendon Rusch.

As I mentioned in a previous article, the Boston Red Sox must be kicking themselves for trading Bronson Arroyo to the Reds for Willy Mo Pena as the right hander has been on fire all year with his arm and his bat!

Arroyo (7-2, 2.40) has homered off Rusch twice this season, in an 8-6 win over the Cubs on April 5 at Cincinnati and again in a 9-2 victory at Wrigley Field on April 11.

Arroyo went 3-for-3 with a career-high four RBIs, while allowing two unearned runs and eight hits in six innings in a 7-5 win over Houston on Saturday.

The right-hander has allowed two or fewer runs in seven of his 12 starts, and the Reds are 9-3 when he takes the mound.

Arroyo is 2-0 with a 1.98 ERA in two starts against Chicago this season, both of them wins over Rusch.

The Reds are doing this as well without any offensive contribution from catcher Jason LaRue who is 1-30 in the month of June.

Bob Acton

Current baseball betting lines

The good thing about wagering on sports this time of year is that with a plethora of activity, you may fine a soft line here or there if you probe hard enough. Two teams who are beginning to get healthy and make some noise are the Philadelphia Phillies and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Philadelphia Phillies seek to push their winning streak to 10 games for the first time in nearly 15 years when they wrap up a three-game series against resurgent Tom Glavine and the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday.

With a 5-4 win in the middle game of the series on Tuesday, Philadelphia (18-14) has won nine in a row for the first time since a 13-game streak from July 30-Aug. 12, 1991.

The streak also has allowed the Phillies to move within two games of the Mets, who sit atop the NL East and are trying to avoid their first three-game losing streak of 2006.

The City of Brotherly Love is beginning to embrace the Phil’s as both the 76ers and Flyers have been banished from their respective sports and the players are brimming with confidence. Having won 9 in a row and facing a pitcher (Glavine), you would think the Phil’s would be rock solid favorites, but the morning line has the game a pick-em!

The lefty’s last two outing have been superb however and there should be some Mets money to keep the odds attractive if you are a Cory Liddle fan. The right-hander will try to put together consecutive wins for the first time this season. Against Atlanta on Friday, he gave up three runs and five hits with a season-high three walks over six innings in a 6-3 victory that lifted the Phillies to .500 for the first time this year.

He’s had success against his former team, going 4-1 with a 2.15 ERA in five outings, striking out 26 and walking just five.

Glavine (4-2, 1.94) will make the start for New York looking for his 280th career win, but also looking to beat the Phillies for the first time in 10 starts.
Since last defeating Philadelphia on Sept. 19, 2002, Glavine is 0-7 with a 5.82 ERA and opponents have hit .298 against him. He has dropped his last five starts versus them, allowing 24 runs and 35 hits in 29 innings.

Overall, Glavine is 24-16 with a 3.77 ERA in his career against Philadelphia.
At 40, Glavine is pitching recently like the two-time Cy Young Award winner he is. In wins April 29 over Atlanta and Thursday against Pittsburgh, the left-hander has given up just seven hits with 11 strikeouts and just three walks in 14 innings.

Take the Phillies to extend their streak!

In the other game you have two teams passing each other in the express elevator. The Dodgers are on their way to the penthouse, while Houston is freefalling to the outhouse. LA winner of 4 in a row is beginning to get production from their big name players Garciaparra, Drew and as always Jeff Kent.

On the other hand you have Astro’s slugger Lance Berkman in a terrible funk hitless in five at-bats and is 4-for-20 with no RBIs on the road trip. Only 14 of his 36 RBIs have come on the road. Tonight momentum is in the Dodger’s favorite.

Brett Tomko (3-1, 3.41 ERA) has been outstanding in his last three outings for Los Angeles, going 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA in that stretch. He did not win his last outing despite allowing five hits over seven scoreless innings in a 3-0 loss to San Diego on Thursday.

“I tweaked a couple of things in the bullpen this week, and it worked. I felt more comfortable with my off-speed stuff,” Tomko said. “It would have been a lot nicer if we would have come out with the win.”

The veteran right-hander is 4-5 with a 4.90 ERA in 13 career starts against Houston.

Impressive Houston rookie Taylor Buchholz (2-1, 2.16) will oppose Tomko in his fifth career start. Buchholz is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA since joining the rotation on April 17.

The right-hander failed to record a decision his last time out after allowing three runs and six hits over seven innings in a 5-4 loss at Colorado last Friday.

You have to grab LA at -110!

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