A's try and put dent in Angels' division lead

Baseball Betting Lines

07/12/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Winners of two straight and four of their last five outings, the Oakland Athletics continue their push towards the top of the American League West standings tonight when they play the second of a three- game set against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at McAfee Coliseum.

Despite being just 13-16 against the rest of the division with the first half of the season nearly wrapped up, the A's are still very much in the hunt for the top spot in the standings and are now just four games out of contention.

On Friday Oakland dropped six runs on the visitors in the third inning on its way to a 9-2 win. Jack Hannahan finished up 3-for-4 with a two-run homer for Oakland, while newly-acquired Matt Murton knocked in two runs and Emil Brown collected three hits and drove in a run. Kurt Suzuki, Jack Cust and Carlos Gonzalez each tallied a pair of hits for the victors as well.

Hurler Sean Gallagher made the most of his Oakland debut after coming over from the Cubs in the Rich Harden trade earlier this week, as he allowed just two runs on two hits and three walks, while striking out seven in as many innings.

On the other side it was Jon Garland who suffered the loss for the Angels, giving up seven earned runs on 10 hits and a pair of walks. Garland, who struck out just one, made it through a mere 2 2/3 innings.

Chone Figgins and Erick Aybar each scored a run for the Angels, the former finally hitting his first triple of the season and plating the latter in the process.

Getting another crack at the A's tonight, Ervin Santana heads to the hill for LA. The four-year vet, who was named to his first All-Star game earlier in the week, is already 1-0 versus Oakland this season and has a remarkable 8-1 mark against the club in his career, sporting a minuscule 1.48 ERA in 12 games.

Santana was roughed up a bit in his most recent outing on Monday, permitting six earned runs on 10 hits, two of those being home runs, and yet he still managed to record a win over Texas on the road. Over the course of seven innings the right-hander also logged six strikeouts, giving him a total of 112 K's in just 122 1/3 innings so far this season.

As for the A's, they are turning to Dana Eveland, as he shoots for his first career win against the Angels. The left-hander has had some issues with control this year, yet has still strung together three wins in as many decisions for Oakland.

On Monday the four-year veteran failed to fan a single batter for the first time this season and was charged with four walks in 5 1/3 innings versus Seattle, yet still lasted long enough to come up with the victory for the club. The Mariners managed nine hits off Eveland, leading to three runs in the 4-3 decision.

Oakland has made this last push towards first in the division despite hitting a collective .236 over the last seven games. Suzuki has helped hold it together with his eight hits in 21 at-bats and the same goes for Hannahan who also has eight hits and has scored four runs in his last seven games. Lost in the shuffle has been Mark Ellis, the second baseman hitting a feeble .103 in his last 29 at-bats.

The Angels have connected on nine home runs over the last week of play, with four players accounting for two long balls apiece. Howie Kendrick is one of those, pacing the club with 10 hits and six runs scored, thanks to a hefty .750 slugging percentage.

The Angels pitching staff appears to be having some problems with the break just days away. The squad has a 5.60 ERA over the last seven games and has allowed opponents to hit .300 against them, yet they still have a pair of complete games (Garland and Joe Saunders) to show for their efforts.

The Angels have won six of 11 versus the A's this season, taking two of three in Oakland from last month.

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MySportsbook.com : Fortune Favors Favorites in March Madness betting?

Just like Day 1 of the “Sweet 16”, Friday’s games are chock full of some of the nation’s elite.  Unlike Thursday’s games, there is a little bit more of a “Cinderella” feel as #7 seed UNLV and #6 seed Vanderbilt will attempt to move on to the Elite Eight.  With powerhouses Florida, UNC and Georgetown looking to continue their momentum against lesser known teams, it isn’t surprising that once again the “betting public” is backing most of the favorites.  As the early coin rolls in, 56% of Sportsbook.com bettors prefer Georgetown (-7.5) as they take on Vanderbilt; 84% of the early money is backing Oregon (-3) as they square off against UNLV; and a slight majority (52%) of the early cash is on Florida (-10.5) against Butler as the Gators continue their quest for another National Title. The only favorite the public don’t seem confident in is UNC, as 59% of the cash is backing the underdog Trojans (+8).

Midwest

#1 Florida vs. #5 Butler

The defending National Champs have been on a mission since last April.  Joakim Noah and Al Horford turned down millions of dollars for one reason, to REPEAT.  After a late season hiccup which saw them lose three out of four, the Gators have won six straight by an average of 20.3 points. More importantly, they covered in five of those six games.  Behind their stymie defense that yields only 56.9 PPG, Butler has been a very pleasant surprise this season.  As their 20-11 ATS record will indicate, “surprise teams” like Butler are often good bets for gamblers.  Playing in an average conference, Butler wasn’t and underdog too often but when they were, they covered (6-0 ATS).  Butler’s defense will have its hands full against a Gators offense which averages 80.1 PPG on an amazing 52.9% shooting from the field.  With Florida’s tournament experience over the last few years, it isn’t surprising that they are 5-1 ATS this season, 20-4 ATS over the last three seasons and 38-20 since 1997 in tournament action.

#3 Oregon vs. #7 UNLV

As a #7 seed, UNLV is the closest thing to a “Cinderella” we have this year.  If you bet on UNLV this season with any regularity, you most likely cashed in. Behind their guard oriented attack, the Rebels are an impressive 20-11 ATS this season.  As an underdog they covered in 8 out of their ten games which isn’t surprising since they are 52-30 ATS as a ‘dog since 1997. The Rebels have been a consistent cover during the month of March as well.  This March they are 6-0 ATS, 11-3 ATS over the last three seasons and 24-11 since 1997. Their impressive ATS trends don’t end there; versus teams with a winning record they are 15-6 ATS this season and 41-21 over the last three seasons.  Although Oregon hasn’t been as generous to gamblers as UNLV this season, they have been covering consistently as of late.  There is no question that they are playing their best ball of the season having won their last 8 straight up (SU) by an average of 14.5 points. Not surprising they covered in 7 of those games.  It is interesting to note how similar these teams are in regards to scoring and scoring defense. UNLV averages 75 PPG while giving up 66.5 PPG and Oregon scores 75.8 PPG while yielding 65.5 PPG.

East

#6 Vanderbilt vs. #2 Georgetown

“Hoya Paranoia” is officially back! After a decent start, Georgetown has rolled through the second half of the season.  Over their last 18 games, they are 17-1 SU.  They have definitely improved ATS as the season has progressed as well. After opening the season 1-4-1 ATS, the Hoyas have covered 78.3% of their games.  With their great interior play of Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, the Hoyas as a team shoot 50.5% from the field.  Like the Georgetown teams from years ago, they also excel on defense.  Hoya opponents averaged only 56.8 PPG on 38.2% shooting from the field and an extremely low 30.4% from beyond the arc.  The last stat could be of some concern to Vanderbilt considering they shoot 37.7% from long-range.  Ranking second to last in the SEC in rebounding margin, Vanderbilt will have its work cut out for them against the Hoya trees. As far as covering is concerned, Vanderbilt has been almost a “sure thing” (7-1 ATS) versus good defensive teams that allow less than 64 PPG.

#1 UNC vs. # 5 USC

The Tar Heels are as talented and as deep as any team in the country.  Going ten deep and chock full of HS All-Americans, UNC averages 86.1 PPG and scored 100+ seven times.  Led by All-American forward, Tyler Hansbrough (18.6 PPG 7.9 RPG) UNC has a very balanced attack which can kill you on the inside as well as on the perimeter.  UNC only real concern is their youth as eight of their rotation players are either sophomores or freshmen.  UNC was a reliable cover this season going 20-13 ATS.  An intriguing covering trend for the Tar Heels in recent years has been how they fared after non-conference games.  This season they are 11-3 ATS after non-conference games and over the last three seasons they are 31-13 ATS.  USC is also a pretty deep team which is loaded with swingman types.  An match-up to keep an eye on will be freshman forward Taj Gibson (12.1 PPG, 8.6 RPG) as he squares off against the AA Hansbrough.  USC has been a covering machine this season achieving a 21-10 record ATS.  They have thrived in the underdog role, having covered 10 out of 12.  When playing a team with a winning record, the Trojans are an incredible 20-6 ATS. Keep in mind, USC dedicated their season to former star to Ryan Francis who passed away before the season so as they get closer to the ultimate goal, emotion could definitely be on their side.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at this sportsbook “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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