Garza aims for 12th victory as Rays take on Rangers

Baseball Betting Lines

08/17/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Garza shoots for a career-high 12th win of the season this evening when the Tampa Bay Rays continue their three-game series with the Texas Rangers at Tropicana Field.

Tampa won for the fifth time in its last seven games with a thrilling victory on Monday, as Carlos Pena drove in the go-ahead run as part of a four-run eighth inning, lifting the Rays to a 6-4 win.

Willy Aybar drove in two runs while Ben Zobrist went 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Rays, who have won three straight. David Price went six-plus innings and was charged with two runs on five hits with five walks and eight strikeouts. Lance Cormier (4-3) got the win for getting the final out in the eighth inning.

With the win and a loss by the Yankees to Detroit on Monday, Tampa Bay is now tied with New York for the top spot in the division with identical 72-46 records.

"It's an interesting win and a big win," said Rays manager Joe Maddon. "When you beat the best pitcher in baseball in the eighth inning when he's up, that shows good things about your team. Hopefully we will gain some momentum from this."

Bengie Molina went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored and Elvis Andrus added two hits and an RBI for the Rangers, who have dropped five of their last eight. Cliff Lee (10-6) was tagged with the loss as he gave up six runs on nine hits with a walk and 10 strikeouts over 7 2/3 innings.

"We just didn't support Lee tonight," said Texas manager Ron Washington. "There were too many outs that were supposed to be outs that didn't happen. That's the game right there."

Despite the loss in the opener of a three-game set, the Rangers still hold a healthy eight-game lead over the Angels for first in the AL West.

Now Garza takes the hill for the Rays this evening trying to snap a personal two-start losing streak. Garza, who is winless in his three starts since throwing his no-hitter, absorbed the loss in Detroit on Wednesday, allowing three runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings to fall to 11-7 on the year to go along with a 3.92 ERA.

Garza beat the Rangers back on June 6 and is 4-3 lifetime against them with a 4.53 ERA in eight games.

Texas, meanwhile, will counter with righty Tommy Hunter, who is 9-1 with a 3.38 ERA. Hunter did not get a decision on Friday in Boston, but lasted just three innings, surrendering four runs and six hits in his team's 10-9 win.

Hunter's first win of the season came against the Rays back on June 5 and he is a perfect 2-0 in three starts against them with a 2.33 ERA.

Texas took two of three from the Rays earlier in the year.

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Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year

Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.

Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.

With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.

Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.

Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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