SportsBettingChamp.com Sports Blog

On Monday night, the Tampa Bay Rays (76-48) defeated the Los Angeles Angels (76-47) by a score of 6-4 in a win that proved Tampa can hang with the top teams in baseball. The Rays are currently 5-2 against the Angels, the top team in MLB this season. Cliff Floyd and Eric Hinske both homered for the Rays. Surprising, the Angels have the best road record in MLB, but are 0-4 in Tropicana Field, the Rays home ballpark, this season.

The result of the game may have been overshadowed by a major base running mistake by Tampa Bay’s B.J. Upton, who decided to take his time on what should have been a routine double. He was tagged out at second by Angels first basemen Mark Teixeira. Upton, who is among the fastest players in the league, would not talk to reporters after the game.

Andy Sonnanstine (13-6) was given the win. Jon Garland (11-8) was given the loss. Dan Wheeler earned the save, his sixth of the season.

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The Los Angeles Angels (76-46) take on the Tampa Bay Rays (75-48) in a matchup of the two top teams in the American League. The Angels are currently a virtual lock for the playoffs, as they have a 15.5 game lead over the Texas Rangers in the AL West. The Rays, in a tougher division, have a 4.5 game lead over the Boston Red Sox in the AL East. Game time is scheduled for 7:10 PM Eastern.

Consider these criteria when determining a pick between the Angels and the Rays:

- Jon Garland (11-7, 4.26) will start for Los Angeles

- Andy Sonnanstine (12-6, 4.35) will start for Tampa Bay

- Garland has won 3 of his last 4 starts

- Los Angeles comes into the game with an ML Best road record, 39-23

- The Angels have won 10 of their last 15 home games

- Tampa Bay is 14-4 in their last 18 games

- Tampa Bay has won 41 of its last 51 home games

- The Angels are 6-4 in their last 10 games

- Tampa Bay is 7-3 in its last 10 games

As always, if you’re looking to bet on sports, head over to http//www.SportsBettingChamp.com for information on how to win 97% of your sports bets!

The Tampa Bay Rays (73-47) beat the Oakland Athletics (55-65) 7-6 in 12 innings on Thursday night. History was snapped in Tampa Bay’s win, as Oakland reliever Brad Ziegler’s streak of 39 consecutive scoreless innings tied a 59 year old major league record for relievers. B.J. Upton of the Rays an RBI double that scored Akinori Iwamura, who walked, to give the Rays a 5-4 lead in the ninth. Oakland managed to get a run in the bottom of the ninth to get the score even at 5-5.

In the 12th inning, Tampa Bay’s Carlos Pena hit his 23rd homerun of the season, which gave Tampa Bay a 6-5 lead. Dioner Navarro added an RBI single for insurance, and it was definitely needed, as Oakland did score in the bottom of the 12th. They only scored once, however, and Tampa earned the 7-6 victory to remain 3 games ahead of Boston in the AL East.

Jason Hammel (4-3) was given the win, and Santiago Castilla (2-1) was given the loss. Trever Miller was given the save.

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If you had to describe last nights game between the Texas Rangers (61-59) and the Boston Red Sox (69-51) in one word, it would be this: Wild. In the first inning, the Red Sox grabbed a 10-0 lead on Texas, including two homeruns by Red Sox DH David Ortiz.  He became the 5th player in MLB history to hit two homers in the 1st inning alone. No one thought Texas would be able to make a game out of it at that point, but piece by piece, or rather, run by run, they managed to chip away at Boston’s lead, including an 8 run 5th inning and a 5 run 6th inning.  At that point, Texas miraculously had a 15-14 lead.  Both teams scored a run in the 7th inning to make it 16-15 in favor of Texas.
Going into the bottom of the eight inning, Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia hit an RBI double, one of five hits in the game for him, to tie the game at 16 all.  After intentionally walking David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis stepped up to the plate. Youkilis drove a three-run shot over Fenway Park’s Green Monster to give Boston a 19-16 lead, sending the Fenway Park crowd into a frenzy. Texas managed to score a run in the bottom of the 9th, but it wasn’t enough as Boston went on to win the game, 19-17. The teams combined for 36 runs (tying an AL record) and 37 hits.  

Boston reliever Hideki Okajima (3-2) was given the win, with Texas reliever Frank Francisco (2-4) taking the loss.  Jonathan Papelbon was given the save, his 32nd of the season.

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The New York Yankees (63-55) take on the Minnesota Twins (65-52) tonight in a showdown of two teams who are hoping to be playing this October. The Twins are currently half a game back of the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central, and are 1.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox for the AL Wild Card. The Yankees are 8.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East race and are 4 games behind the Red Sox in the AL Wild Card race. Game time is scheduled for 8:05 PM Eastern at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Consider these criteria when determining a pick between the Yankees and the Twins:

- Sidney Ponson (7-2, 4.23) will start for the Yankees

- Glen Perkins (8-3, 4.38) will start for Minnesota

- The Yankees swept the Twins in their last matchup, July 21-23rd, and outscored them 25-7

- The Yankees are 5-2 vs. the Twins this year

- The Yankees have just been swept by the Los Angeles Angels

- Minnesota is 39-21 at home

- New York is 27-29 on the road

- Minnesota is 6-4 in its last 10 games

- New York is 4-6 in its last 10 games

As always, if you’re looking to bet on sports, head over to http//www.SportsBettingChamp.com for information on how to win 97% of your sports bets!

The Boston Red Sox (66-49) face the Chicago White Sox (63-50) in what will be an important opening game of the series for both teams. The Red Sox are current AL Wild Card holders, and the White Sox are a half game up on the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central.

Consider these criteria when determining a pick between the Red Sox and the White Sox:

- Jon Lester (10-3, 3.14) will start for Boston

- Mark Buehrle (8-10, 4.07) will start for Chicago

- Boston has won seven straight games against Chicago, most recently a 4 game sweep last August

- Chicago has won 25 of its last 32 home games

- Buehrle struggles against the Red Sox, going 0-4 with a 7.18 ERA in his last five starts

- Boston has won 5 of its last 6 games

- Boston is 26-33 on the road

- Chicago is 37-17 at home, 4th best in the league

- Boston is 6-4 in its last 10

- Chicago is 4-6 in its last 10

As always, if you’re looking to bet on sports, head over to http//www.SportsBettingChamp.com for information on how to win 97% of your sports bets!

The New York Yankees (62-52) and the Texas Rangers (60-55) will face off against each other tonight in Texas. With both teams acting as potential AL Wild Card contenders, this final game in the series could be pivotal. The Rangers lead the 4 game series 2-1 at this point, but New York won 5-3 last night and could split the series with a win tonight. Game time is scheduled for 8:05 PM Eastern at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Consider these criteria when determining a pick between the Yankees and the Rangers:

- Mike Mussina (14-7, 3.44) will start for New York

- Scott Feldman (4-4, 4.97) will start for Texas

- Mussina 5-1 with a 2.47 ERA in his last nine starts against the Rangers

- In his first career start against the Yankees, Feldman gave up one run and four hits in 5 innings of a 2-1 road victory on June 30

- Texas has won 4 of its last 6 games

- Mussina has given up just 12 earned runs in 44 innings (2.45 ERA) over his last seven starts.

- In his last four starts, Feldman has let in 17 earned runs in 21 innings (7.29 ERA).

- New York is 26-26 on the road

- Texas is 31-25 at home

- New York is 4-6 in its last 10 games

- Texas is 6-4 in its last 10 games

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If you were not taking Tampa Bay seriously this season, you may want to reconsider.  They are certainly a well built team that’s been years in the makings. The Tampa Bay Rays (68-45) beat the Cleveland Indians (49-64) 10-7 Wednesday night to remain 3 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox in the AL East race. The Rays were down 7-4 entering the bottom half of the ninth inning when there massive rally began. Carlos Pena topped off the 6 run inning with his own 3 run walk off homerun off of Cleveland reliever Masa Kobayashi. Another homerun by Gabe Gross was hit in the inning, which tied the game at 7. The win pulls the Rays closer to the 70 win mark, something that they remarkably haven’t done in any of the last 10 seasons. Rays manager Joe Madden had this to say about the game: “Probably the most exciting win I’ve been involved with here.”  Masa Kobayashi (4-5) was charged with the loss, and Troy Percival (2-0) was given the win.

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The New York Yankees (61-50) take on the Texas Rangers (58-54) Monday night in Texas. Over the last month, the Yankees have been red hot and are back in playoff talks after an abysmal start to the season. Game time is scheduled for 8:05 PM Eastern.

Consider these criteria when determining a pick between the Yankees and the Rangers:

- Joba Chamberlain (4-3, 2.24) will pitch for New York

- Vicente Padilla (12-5, 4.52) will start for Texas

- New York is 25-24 on the road

- Texas is 29-24 at home

- New York has won 16 of its last 24 games since July 5th

- New York has lost 5 of its last 8 games on the road

- Texas has won 4 of its last 6 games

- Padilla is 1-1 with a 5.23 ERA in two career starts versus the Yankees

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The Tampa Bay Rays (66-44) beat the Detroit Tigers (55-56) Sunday in the 10th inning by a score of 6-5. The way they won was anything but ordinary, and ranks up there with the worst ways to lose a game (if you’re a Tigers fan). After Detroit got a run in the top of the tenth to go up 5-4, Tampa Bay’s outfielder Carl Crawford hit an RBI single in the bottom half of the 10th inning. Carlos Pena then drew a game-ending, bases-loaded walk. To make matters even worse for Detroit, the reason the bases became loaded was when Detroit pitcher Fernando Rodney issued a walk, than hit a batter to get two guys on. A sacrifice hit moved the runners to second and third, and Rodney again issued a walk to the next batter, before Pena drew his walk.  Speaking after the game, Detroit manager Jim Leyland had this quote: “You’ve got to step it up if you want to be in the hunt. You don’t want to be in the hunt, go home. Take an early vacation. Come back for spring training. We’ll bring some kids up to play. We should be embarrassed. I’m not sure enough people are.” Trever Miller was given the win, with Fernando Rodney taking the loss.

As always, if you’re looking to bet on sports, head over to http//www.SportsBettingChamp.com for information on how to win 97% of your sports bets!