Angels send Weaver to mound in finale with Royals

Baseball Betting Lines

06/03/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jered Weaver can get the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim back to .500 this afternoon when they go for a series win in the finale of their four-game series against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

Anaheim, which spent all of May below the break even mark, won for the fourth time in five tries on Wednesday, as Torii Hunter went 3-for-5 with a homer and drove in three runs, helping the Angels to a 7-2 win.

Scott Kazmir was charged with five hits and a run over 5 2/3 innings and won for just the second time in his last seven starts.

All the news was not good for the Angels, though, as outfielder Juan Rivera was forced to leave the game in the fifth inning after fouling a ball off his foot the inning before. X-Rays taken after the game were inconclusive and he is listed as day-to-day.

Kyle Davies (4-4) allowed eight hits and six runs over four-plus innings for the Royals, who lost for the fourth time in five games overall.

"I keyholed myself a little bit," Davies said. "I tried to be perfect the rest of the game and I never got in synch. Command never got to where it was supposed to be and they hit me pretty good."

David DeJesus had a pair of hits and drove in a run for Kansas City, which has lost 11 of its last 13 games against the Angels.

Weaver, meanwhile, is winless in his last four starts and comes into today's finale sporting a 4-2 mark to go along with a 3.01 ERA. Weaver allowed just an unearned run in seven innings in his last trip to the hill on Saturday against Seattle, but did not factor in the decision of his team's 5-1, 10-inning win.

The 27-year-old righty is 3-4 in seven starts against the Royals with a 3.35 ERA in seven starts.

Kansas City's hopes rest on the right arm of reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke, who has lost his last two starts and is just 1-6 on the year with a 3.39 ERA. Greinke pitched well in Boston on Saturday, surrendering a run and five hits in six innings, but his team could not muster a run in the 1-0 setback.

Greinke, who has allowed three runs or less in all but two of his 11 starts this season, is just 1-3 lifetime against the Angels with a 3.89 ERA in six games (five starts).

The Angels have dominated this series of late, having won 14 of their 17 most recent matchups with the Royals. They also have just three losses in their last 13 trips to Kansas City.

Narketwatch Baseball Betting News

<< Rangers aim for rare road sweep of White Sox
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers take aim at their first three-game sweep in Chicago in 24 years this evening when they wrap up their set against the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. Texas moved to the brink of a sweep on Wednesday

<< Mariners go for series win over Twins
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One day after the best player in the history of their franchise called it a career, the Seattle Mariners will try for a series win when they close out a four-game set against the Minnesota Twins tonight at Safeco

<< Sizzling Braves head out west to battle Dodgers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National League East-leading Atlanta Braves bring their rags to riches story to the west coast and will begin an 11-game road trip tonight with the first of four straight meetings with the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chavez Ra

<< Astros try for series win over Nationals
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros hope to post their second winning series in more than a month when they close out a four-game set Thursday afternoon versus the Washington Nationals at Minute Maid Park. After losing the opener of this s

<< Brewers' Capuano concludes long road back to majors vs. Marlins
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There isn't anything that strikes fear into pitchers more than the words Tommy John. The former major leaguer is more known for having a ligament replacement procedure in his name rather than 20-plus years of service and 2

Summer Bird retired from racing >>
Stanton, DE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Champion colt Summer Bird has been retired from racing and will enter stud service. Trainer Tim Ritchey made the announcement Thursday at Delaware Park. Ritchey said that the four-year-old has been retired b

Redskins make offer to RB Westbrook >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Redskins have reportedly made a formal contract offer to running back Brian Westbrook. According to The Washington Post, Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan confirmed the team made an o

Ravens sign PK Graham >>
Owings Mills, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Ravens made it official Thursday and signed kicker Shayne Graham to a one-year contract. The 32-year-old had been with Cincinnati since the 2003 season and was a 2005 Pro Bowl selection

Former Hofstra coach Joe Gardi dies >>
Hempstead, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Hofstra University football coach Joe Gardi died Wednesday following a stroke suffered last week. He was 71 years old. Gardi compiled a 119-62-2 record in 16 seasons at Hofstra from 1990 to 2005. Both

Men's semis set for Friday in Paris >>
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The men's French Open semifinals will be staged on Friday, as second-seeded Spanish star Rafael Nadal will take on 22nd-seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer and fifth-seeded Swede Robin Soderling will face 15th-seed

Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.