05/12/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim hope a return home gets them off the schneid this evening when they kick off a four-game series with the Chicago White Sox at Angel Stadium.
The Angels, who will be home for the next seven games, lost the final four contests of their six-game trip and were swept over the weekend by the red-hot Tampa Bay Rays, falling 8-5 on Sunday at Tropicana Field.
Torii Hunter had three hits and drove in two runs for the Angels, while Garret Anderson had two hits and two RBI and Vladimir Guerrero added two hits and knocked in a run in defeat.
Los Angeles starter Ervin Santana lasted 5 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on nine hits and one walk. He did strike out seven batters and left with a one- run lead. Tampa Bay erased the Halo's 5-4 advantage with a four-run sixth off Justin Speier (0-3).
The skid is the Angels' longest since dropping six in a row from April 12-18, 2007.
Hoping to get Los Angeles back in the win column this evening will be 21-year- old righty Nick Adenhart, who will be making his third start since being called up from Triple-A Salt Lake. Adenhart, though, has struggled, allowing eight runs in 6 1/3 innings, but his offense has bailed him out and he has not received a decision in either outing.
Adenhart, who will be facing the White Sox for the first time in his career, surrendered three runs and six hits in 4 1/3 frames on Tuesday in Kansas City, but did not factor in his team's 5-3 win.
Chicago, meanwhile, enters tonight's opener on a sour note after being denied a sweep in its three-game series in Seattle, but has won seven of its last nine in Anaheim.
After winning the first two games at Safeco Field, the White Sox were dealt a 6-3 setback on Sunday. Orlando Cabrera tied a career-high with four hits and scored a run, while Carlos Quentin was 2-for-5 with an RBI and scored once for Chicago, which fell for the first time in four tries.
Cabrera, of course, will be facing his former team tonight for the first time since LA dealt him to the Windy City for starter Jon Garland.
Getting the call for the Sox tonight will be left-hander Mark Buehrle, who is 0-4 over his last five starts. Buehrle was tagged with the loss on Wednesday against Minnesota, as he gave up seven runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings to fall to 1-4 on the season, while raising his ERA to 5.31.
Buehrle has also had his problems with the Angels over the course of his career, going just 1-4 against them with a 4.48 ERA in 15 games, 14 of which have been starts.
Chicago won five of its nine matchups with the Angels last season and is 11-7 in the series since the start of the 2006 campaign.
<< Rays try to extend home winning streak vs. Yankees
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays try to extend their franchise-record
home-winning streak to 10 games this evening when they start a four-game
series with the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field.
Extending the streak may be
<< Brewers to wrap up series with slumping Cards
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers seem to have found their winning ways
as they wrap up a four-game series versus the NL Central-rival St. Louis
Cardinals tonight at Miller Park.
The Brewers have won two of the first three matc
<< Cubs try to keep momentum going as Padres pay visit
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs enter a four-game set with a chip on their
shoulders, as they are coming off an impressive sweep of the Arizona
Diamondbacks. Tonight, the club will welcome the San Diego Padres to town for
the ser
<< Red-hot Marlins take streak into Cincinnati
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The surging Florida Marlins will try to extend their
season-high winning streak to eight games tonight, when they open a four-game
series against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.
The NL East-leadin
Sorenstam makes modest gain in Rolex Rankings >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Annika Sorenstam posted a seven-stroke
victory Sunday at the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill, but the decisive win
only inched her a little closer to world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa in this week's
Rolex W
Garcia gets back into top 10 in the world >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergio Garcia collected the biggest win
of his career on Sunday in a playoff at The Players Championship. It moved him
back into the top 10 of this week's Official World Golf Rankings.
Garcia, who par
Tsonga wins; Youzhny falls in Hamburg >>
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Australian Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried
Tsonga was among Monday's opening-round winners, while 10th-seeded Russian
Mikhail Youzhny came up a loser at the $2.955 million Masters Series Hamburg,
a clay-court Fren
Zvonareva, Szavay advance in Rome >>
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tenth-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva and 11th-
seeded Hungarian Agnes Szavay were among Monday's first-round winners at the
$1.34 million Italian Open, a clay-court French Open tune-up.
Zvonareva drubbed Japan's
MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.
Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.
According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).
Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.
''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.
Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.
''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''
Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.
”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.
For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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