Blue Jays, Devil Rays continue set at Tropicana Field

Baseball Betting Lines

09/08/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays try to keep their slim playoff hopes alive this evening when they play the middle contest of a three-game series with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Tropicana Field.

Toronto enters tonight's matchup 6 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees in the wild card race. The Blue Jays failed to gain any ground on the front- running Yanks on Friday, but picked up a win nonetheless, as Dustin McGowan hurled eight innings and struck out a career-high 12 in Toronto's 7-2 win.

McGowan (10-8) allowed just two earned runs on four hits, walking only one, before being lifted for Jason Frasor, who tossed a perfect ninth.

Matt Stairs went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI, Gregg Zaun launched a three-run homer, and Aaron Hill and John McDonald each scored twice for the Jays, who have now won five of seven and moved a season-high four games over .500.

Edwin Jackson (4-14) was victimized by two big innings, lasting 5 2/3 innings in the losing effort for the Rays, surrendering seven earned runs on seven hits while striking out six and walking three.

Akinori Iwamura and Carl Crawford each scratched out a single and scored a run for Tampa Bay, which managed just four hits on the night and lost for only the third time in its last 10 tries.

Getting the call for the Blue Jays tonight will be A.J. Burnett, who has won three of his last four decisions. Burnett earned the win on Sunday in Seattle, as he held the Mariners to three runs and four hits in seven innings. He also struck out seven batters, while running his record to 8-7 to go along with a 3.71 earned run average.

Burnett has dominated the Tampa Bay Devil Rays over the course of his career, going an impressive 6-1 against them with a 2.57 ERA in 11 starts.

Tampa will counter with right-hander Jason Hammel, who is 2-4 with a 6.95 ERA. Hammel celebrated his 25th birthday with a win on Sunday against the New York Yankees, as he allowed just a run and five hits in seven solid innings. He also fanned seven batters without issuing a walk.

Hammel did not receive a decision in his only other appearance against the Jays back on August 1,

Toronto has won seven of its 13 meetings with the Devil Rays this season and is 30-20 in the last 50 matchups.

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FOOTBALL BETTING LINES

NFL Football Sports Betting

Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.

New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.

His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.

HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.

The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.

RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.

First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.

The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.

These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.

New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.

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