Tuesday, July 12

un martes sin MLB

= FOOTBALL =
18:00 - Dinamo Minsk - FC Anorthosis 1-1 (PT 0-1)
- PT/RF: Dinamo Minsk/Dinamo Minsk @ 2

= MLB All Star Game =
02:35 - National League - American League 5-7
- American League -1.5 @ 2.55
- National League @ 2.1
- under 9.5 @ 1.83
- ¿Qué equipo anotará primero? (AL @ 2)

= WNBA =
02:00 - New York Liberty vs Houston Comets 68-65 (HC -6 @ 1.91)
04:30 - Charlotte Sting vs LA Sparks 59-71 (LAS -11 @ 1.91)
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3 comments:

atman said...

Midsummer Classic: Starter spotlight

American League

Mark Buehrle

Three days rest isn’t about to stop Mark Buehrle from starting for the American League tonight in Detroit.

The Chicago White Sox lefty was named the starter for this year’s All-Star Game, in place of the injured Roy Halladay, despite throwing 112 pitches in Saturday’s loss to the Oakland Athletics.

"I told [Terry Francona] that if he wanted me to start or close, I didn`t care. I could throw two innings," said Buerhle. “I’m not worried about being sore.”

Buehrle probably isn`t too worried about the National League’s starting lineup either. Comprised mainly of right-handed hitters, the NL’s starting squad will work for their hits off Chicago’s 10-game winner, who is holding right-handers to .247 hitting this season.

Lefties are another story however, in particular Bobby Abreu. The National League’s projected leadoff man has hit safely five of the nine times he’s faced Buehrle and is a career .500 hitter (7-for-14) at Comerica Park.

But as Buehrle has shown this season, hits don’t always equal runs. The 26-year-old lefty holds a mere 2.58 ERA despite allowing the fifth-most hits in the American League.

National League

Chris Carpenter

Chris Carpenter must think it’s October all over again.

With four Boston Red Sox hitters in the starting lineup for tonight`s All-Star Game, Carpenter’s time on the hill could be over faster than last year’s World Series.

The trio of Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and Jason Varitek are hitting a combined .341 (14-for 41) with four home runs and 10 RBIs off the 30-year-old right-hander. The lone ‘idiot’ out is AL leadoff hitter Johnny Damon, who is a dismal .139 hitter with seven strikeouts against the league`s second best punch out man.

Although he’s making his first All-Star appearance, Carpenter is working on five days rest and may get the green light from manager Tony La Russa to give it his all. With the Cardinals running away with the league’s best record, a victory today would guarantee home-field advantage for the National League in this year’s World Series.

His struggles against the BoSox hitters are cause for concern, but June`s NL Player of the Month is having a career year. Carpenter hasn’t allowed more than one earned run in five straight starts and owns a perfect 7-0 record with a 1.69 ERA on the road this season.

12 July, 2005 08:51
atman said...

Midsummer Classic props preview

The All-Star break is always a dark time for sports bettors.

With the MLB season taking a three-day hiatus, there’s nothing to lay down on besides the ladies basketball league and the wrong kind of football. But on a brighter note, the books have tons of props on tap for the Midsummer Classic – one last wagering feast before the famine sets in.

Prop: Who’ll record the All-Star Game’s first homerun?

The books have odds on 38 different players to notch the All-Star Game’s first dinger. Vladimir Guerrero and Alex Rodriguez are the favored players at 12-1, while Brain Roberts, Derrek Lee and Manny Ramirez are paying out at 15-1.

Ramirez is the only one of those players to hit a homer in the past three All-Star Games, but Lee appears to have the hottest bat here. The Chicago Cubs first baseman’s .378 average is best in the majors while his 27 homers tie him for first with Atlanta outfielder Andruw Jones. Lee has also sent one over the wall in each of his last two contests since returning from a shoulder injury.

But if you think the steroid crackdown will make this All-Star Game a small-ball showcase, sportsbooks have you covered there, too. “No home runs scored” is the overall favorite in this prop paying 9-2.

Prop: Who’ll score first, the National League or the American League?
Odds: NL –140, AL +120

The National League sends its players to the dish in the top of the first today, which makes it tempting to take the favored side of this prop. But while that makes sense from a logical standpoint, recent history doesn’t support that notion.

Last year’s All-Star Game was only the second instance of the away team scoring first over the past five years. The home team scored first in each of the other three years, while the American League scored first in four of the past five seasons.

Prop: Will there be a score in the first inning?
Odds: Yes –110, No –110

These odds suggest the chances of a player crossing the plate in the opening frame of the All-Star Game are 50-50, but history says the sharp money’s on "No."

The American League tagged Roger Clemens for six runs in the opening frame of last year’s Midsummer Classic, but that was only time in five years that the scoreboard didn’t sport a pair of goose eggs after the first.

Starters Mark Buehrle and Chris Carpenter will be doing their best to keep that streak going. The Chicago White Sox ace will hasn’t allowed more than four earned runs in his last 10 starts and just a total of 14 through that span. Carpenter has been even better, allowing two earned runs in his last five and just a dozen in his last 10.

Factor in that Comerica Park is known to be a pitcher’s stadium, and you can see where the value lies.

Prop: Will Johnny Damon score a run?
Odds: Yes +170, No –200

Books aren’t giving the major leagues’ best leadoff hitter much credit.

Johnny Damon notched one hit and one run during his last All-Star appearance in 2002 and his statistics are far better now that they were during that season.

The Red Sox outfielder had a .286 batting average in 2002 while crossing the dish 118 times. He’s currently hitting .343 and scored 65 runs. The Caveman’s also recorded eight runs in Boston’s last nine games.

Damon hits in leadoff spot for the American League tonight.

Prop:Will David Ortiz record an RBI?
Odds: Yes +160, No –200

Looks like we’ve got another underrated Beantown bat here.

David Ortiz sent Carl Pavano’s pitch soaring into the Houston night in the sixth inning of last year’s All-Star Game, giving him a pair of RBI’s on the evening.

The Red Sox designated hitter hasn’t slowed down much since. Big Papi has smacked 21 homers this year and ranks third in the majors with 75 RBIs. Ortiz hits in the No. 3 spot for the American League behind teammate Johnny Damon and Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.

12 July, 2005 08:52
atman said...

AL takes the cash at the All-Star game

DETROIT -- Miguel Tejada, Mark Teixeira and their American League teammates gave a new-look All-Star game the same old result.

Some sportsbooks had the AL listed at -135 for the 2005 Midsummer Classic.

Tejada homered off John Smoltz to start the scoring, Teixeira added a two-run drive off Dontrelle Willis and the AL overcame Kenny Rogers` bumpy inning to beat the NL 7-5 Tuesday night for its eighth straight win.

Mark Buehrle got the victory with two scoreless innings for an AL staff that mostly made Comerica Park live up to its reputation as a pitcher`s park in an era of hitter`s havens. The AL had a shutout going into the seventh, when Rogers gave up a two-run homer to Andruw Jones, prompting more boos for the Texas lefty, playing while appealing a 20-game suspension.

The AL made it 3-0 since the change in 2003 that gave the All-Star-winning league homefield advantage in the World Series.

``We hope we make it this year,`` said Tejada, the Baltimore star who was selected the game`s MVP.

Tejada, Teixeira and Buehrle were among 13 players getting their first All-Star starts in a game nothing like the famous 1971 classic about two miles away at Tiger Stadium. Eighteen future Hall of Famers played in that one, and six of them homered - including Reggie Jackson, who hit the stunning shot off the light tower on top of the roof.

The most famous player in this one was Houston`s Roger Clemens, a month shy of his 43rd birthday. The Rocket, an All-Star for the 11th time, pitched a perfect fifth inning, retiring David Ortiz, Garret Anderson and Tejada. The seven-time Cy Young Award winner entered and exited to hundreds if not thousands of flashing camera bulbs aimed at him by the crowd of 41,617 in the wide, cavernous ballpark, which opened in 2000.

The most infamous player was the 40-year-old Rogers, who was booed loudly when introduced and tipped his cap to the crowd as he looked ahead stone-faced.

``I don`t hold anything against anyone,`` Rogers said.

Rogers was penalized by baseball commissioner Bud Selig for an outburst last month that sent a television cameraman to the hospital and prompted a police investigation.

``I wanted to pitch,`` Rogers said. ``I didn`t pitch last year in the game, and I think at this stage in my career it`s something that`s not expected from me.``

Exactly 50 years to the day after the funeral of Arch Ward, the Chicago Tribune editor who invented the All-Star game, the starters entered the field with Hollywood glitz, coming out from a red carpet set up behind the plate.

Smoltz dropped to 1-2 in All-Star play, tying the record for losses - he lost in `89 and got the NL`s last victory in `96.

``This was certainly a fun one that I`ll remember forever - to go out there in front of friends and family, in my hometown,`` Smoltz said. ``I wanted to have fun - I wasn`t going to get caught up in results.``

Boston`s Terry Francona, the AL manager, found his new closer, bringing in the Yankees` Mariano Rivera, who struck out Morgan Ensberg for the final out.

There were five double plays in the game, an All-Star record, including three turned by the AL. After Bobby Abreu, the record-setting winner of Monday`s Home Run Derby, opened the game with sharp single to left off Buehrle, Tejada made a fancy flip to second base on Carlos Beltran`s grounder to shortstop, starting the first of the double plays.

David Eckstein, the NL shortstop, threw out swift Johnny Damon from the outfield grass starting off the bottom half. Eckstein`s father, Whitey, was hospitalized Sunday with a kidney ailment and was taken off a respirator a couple hours before the game.

Tejada homered off Smoltz leading off the second, a 436-foot drive that landed in the middle of the seats beyond the left-field bullpens - it would have been an easy home run even before the wall was brought in two years ago.

David Ortiz`s RBI single to the base of the right-field wall and Tejada`s RBI grounder made it 3-0 in the third against Roy Oswalt, and Ichiro Suzuki hit a two-run off Livan Hernandez in the fourth.

Teixeira`s homer in the sixth boosted the lead to 7-0 and was a bit of a shocker. While he leads the AL in home runs with 25, they all were hit off right-handers. The switch-hitter doesn`t have any in 85 at-bats against lefties.

Jones, tied for the major league home-run lead with 27, hit his second All-Star homer following one in 2003. Miguel Cabrera added a run-scoring grounder off Joe Nathan in the eighth, and Luis Gonzalez hit an RBI double in the ninth off B.J. Ryan and scored on a grounder by Carlos Lee.

Notes: NL manager Tony La Russa of St. Louis dropped to 3-1 in All-Star play. He won three in a row for the AL as Oakland`s manager. ... Houston`s Brad Lidge struck out Melvin Mora, Mike Sweeney and Anderson in order in the seventh. ... The AL`s winning streak wraps around the 7-7, 11-inning tie at Milwaukee in 2002. ... Rain started falling in the ninth inning, causing many in the crowd to leave their seats

13 July, 2005 07:59

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