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07/28/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers are hurting, both on the field and in the American League playoff race.
Faced with the prospect of their longest road losing streak in nearly five years, the battered and badly-struggling Tigers continue a four-game series with the formidable Tampa Bay Rays tonight at Tropicana Field.
Detroit lost for the ninth straight time as the visitor and suffered its 11th defeat in its last 14 overall contests with Tuesday's 3-2 setback to Tampa Bay. That result followed up a 5-0 Rays' victory on Monday in which Matt Garza threw the first no-hitter in franchise history.
The Tigers, playing without three key regulars in right fielder Magglio Ordonez (fractured right ankle), third baseman Brandon Inge (broken hand) and second baseman Carlos Guillen (calf strain), did manage 12 hits in last night's contest but stranded 11 baserunners. The team has averaged a paltry 2.8 runs over the course of their rough 14-game stretch.
Tampa Bay, on the other hand, won for the fourth straight time and closed within two games of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East with last night's verdict. James Shields delivered 6 2/3 strong innings to lead the way for the Rays, while Matt Joyce snapped a 2-2 tie with a clutch RBI double with two outs in the bottom of the sixth.
Shields held the Tigers to two runs and struck out seven before giving way to the Tampa bullpen, with four relievers combining for 2 1/3 scoreless frames to protect the one-run edge.
"I felt I had good command of my stuff tonight," said Shields afterward. "I had my fastball working and that sets up everything else."
Detroit made it interesting in the top of the ninth, however, by loading the bases with one out against Rafael Soriano. The Rays closer got out of the jam, however, by getting Miguel Cabrera to hit into a game-ending double play.
"[Third baseman Evan] Longoria did a great job to help turn that double play," Shields remarked. It was just a real good win for us."
Tigers ace Justin Verlander (12-6) went the distance in a losing cause, with the All-Star hurler allowing three runs on just five hits and striking out six.
Detroit dropped to four games behind first-place Chicago in the AL Central standings and is now a subpar 16-31 away from home. The nine straight road losses are the team's most since a 10-game skid from September 16-October 2, 2005.
Spot starter Eddie Bonine will attempt to get Detroit back in a winning groove when he takes the mound tonight. The versatile right-hander has worked exclusively in middle relief this season, but is needed to begin this game with the Tigers' rotation having been altered by a doubleheader this past Sunday.
Bonine has performed extremely well in his bullpen role, having generated a 4-0 record with a 2.72 earned run average in 31 appearances while holding opposing hitters to a .241 average. He's made nine starts for Detroit over the previous two seasons and gone 3-2 with a 4.38 ERA in those contests.
The 29-year-old's only previous encounter with the Rays came in relief, with Bonine tossing 1 2/3 scoreless innings in a matchup at Tropicana Field last September.
Jeff Niemann draws the assignment for Tampa Bay this evening and will be aiming to bounce back from a loss in his latest start. The towering right- hander allowed just two runs over five innings this past Friday at Cleveland, but was outdueled by the Indians' Fausto Carmona in a rain-shortened 3-1 setback.
Niemann has come out on top more often than not in his second full major league season, as the former first-round draft pick has posted an 8-3 record along with a sound 2.95 ERA in 20 starts. The Rays are an impressive 15-5 in those games. The Rice product is just 3-2 in 10 Tropicana Field appearances this year, but owns a 2.44 ERA during that stretch.
Although the 27-year-old has yet to beat the Tigers over the course of his career, he's surrendered only four runs in a combined 17 2/3 innings in two starts and one relief stint against Detroit. Niemann had a pair of no- decisions versus the Tigers last season, including a showdown in St. Petersburg in September in which he gave up one run while lasting 7 2/3 innings.
Detroit had prevailed in eight of their last 11 meetings with Tampa Bay prior to Garza's no-hitter on Monday and swept a three-game set in their lone trip to Tropicana Field last season.
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Bautista may still not be a familiar name among many
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The major league's leading home run hitter i
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this season, the Saskatchewan Roughriders try to continue their recent
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Financial terms were not disclosed, but the agreement avoided a salary
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TORONTO ARGONAUTS (3-1) AT MONTREAL ALOUETTES (3-1)
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Yao can see the end of the line >>
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The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
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In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
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