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07/03/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There's some sort of buzz going on right now in Los Angeles. Is Eric Karros making a return to the Dodgers? Did Juan Pierre embarrass himself by rapping in public again?
Oh wait, Manny Ramirez is returning from his 50-game suspension Friday to help the National League West-leading Dodgers kick off a nine-game road trip against the Padres, Mets and Brewers.
If you don't own a television, do not read newspapers or web sites, then you would have no idea that Ramirez is back after violating the league's substance abuse policy for taking performance enhancing drugs. One of the most feared hitters this past decade, Ramirez, who's been the talk of the town lately, was slapped with a 50-game suspension on May 7 and baseball was slapped even harder in the face. The league's poster boy for antics and dominant skills, Ramirez served his time and even got some swings in at the minor league level. Now he just has to adjust to major league pitching and that certainly won't be a problem.
"We're looking forward to having Manny back," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said earlier this week on the team's official site. "I think he'll add something to our lineup."
How perceptive of you, Joe.
You have to feel bad for Padres starter Chad Gaudin, who gets to face Ramirez Friday night at Petco Park. LA fans will surely hit the road to San Diego to see one of the best hitters in baseball take center stage. The Dodgers played to a solid 29-21 mark without the slugger in the lineup and still lead the NL West with a comfortable 7 1/2-game lead over San Francisco. They were 6 1/2 games ahead of the competition and 21-8 when Ramirez was suspended.
LA still has the best record in baseball at 50-29 and got a huge lift from Juan Pierre in Ramirez's absence. Pierre started all 50 games in left field and did a fine job for Torre, going 68-for-214 for a .318 average with 14 doubles, 21 RBI, 31 runs, 15 walks and 20 steals in those games.
The Dodgers won't return to Chavez Ravine until after the All-Star break, when the "Mannywood" seats re-open for business. Ramirez was hitting .348 with six homers and 20 RBI before the suspension.
WILD CARD-LEADING GIANTS OPEN HOMESTAND
The San Francisco Giants will play by the Bay until after the All-Star break, as they open a 10-game homestand Friday versus Houston, Florida and San Diego.
The Giants (42-36) have won three straight as the host and sport a 24-12 record at AT&T Park this season. While winning the NL West division is a long shot with a 7 1/2-game deficit, San Francisco is currently in the driver's seat in the wild card standings. The lead isn't a big one, just a half-game ahead of Milwaukee and St. Louis, but it's better than not having one at all.
Starting pitching has been the key to the Giants' latest success, especially Matt Cain. Cain will most likely earn an All-Star nod and has lasted at least seven innings over four consecutive trips to the hill. He is 9-2 with a 2.48 ERA in 16 starts this season, and has taken away some of the load off of Tim Lincecum's young shoulder's.
Lincecum, last year's NL Cy Young Award winner, is just plain nasty. He has recorded three complete games over his past four starts, and has lasted no less than eight innings over that span. The righty is 8-2 with a 2.37 ERA through 16 outings in 2009, and will most likely join Cain on the NL All-Star roster.
Youngster Ryan Sadowski will shoot for an encore performance tonight in the opener against the Astros. Sadowski made his major league debut on Sunday at Milwaukee and threw six shutout innings in a 7-0 victory, scattering four hits and striking out two batters with three walks. The righty was 5-2 with a 4.11 earned run average in 13 starts for Triple-A Fresno before being recalled.
ROCKIES' MARQUIS LEADS NL IN WINS
The Colorado Rockies took a shot on Jason Marquis this offseason and the right-hander hasn't disappointed.
Marquis is on pace to finish with a career high in wins, as he sports a 10-5 record and a 3.87 earned run average in 16 starts this season. He posted his NL-leading 10th win in fashion on June 30 at the Los Angeles Dodgers, as he recorded his second complete game this season and third shutout of his career. Marquis held the Dodgers to a pair of hits in the 3-0 victory and fanned three batters. He also drove in two runs and threw 86 pitches, 66 for strikes.
"I can promise you in all the games that I've managed in the big leagues, I can't tell out that I've had a starting pitcher that pitched a nine-inning, complete-game shutout and did it with less than 90 pitches," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said on the team's site following the game.
It was Colorado's second win in 11 games against LA this season -- and both were with Marquis on the mound. It also gave the Rockies 21 wins in June, a club record for any month. The Rox won 20 in the September surge of 2007 that led to a playoff berth and their first World Series appearance.
The veteran right-hander has posted 10 or more wins in six straight seasons and improved to 6-2 over his previous nine starts. Marquis is on pace to finish with a career high in wins, and his best campaign came in 2004 as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. He was 15-7 in 32 starts that year.
Colorado (41-37) is back home after a lengthy road trip and will open a three- game series tonight against the NL West-rival Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field. It went 5-4 on a nine-game road swing through Anaheim, Oakland and Los Angeles and dropped two of three matchups with the Dodgers, including Wednesday's 1-0 loss behind Rafael Furcal's pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth inning off Rockies starter Jason Hammel. Hammel pitched brilliantly, allowing only that one run on five hits with five strikeouts through eight innings.
The Rockies, who are one game behind San Francisco for the top spot in the NL wild card standings, have won 21 of their past 26 games and own a 23-9 record under Tracy.
GONZALEZ SLOWING DOWN IN SAN DIEGO?
Hits and homers have been hard to come by for San Diego Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who has just two home runs since going deep in four straight games from May 30-June 2.
Gonzalez also hasn't had more than one hit in a game since a 4-for-4 effort against the Seattle Mariners on June 18. He has just seven total hits since then, spanning 41 at-bats and 13 games.
On a more positive note for the slugging Friar, Gonzalez has appeared in every game dating back to August 15, 2007 -- a stretch of 285 games. San Diego's all-time record for consecutive games played is held by Steve Garvey, who appeared in 305 straight games.
San Diego (34-44) has lost two straight, six of nine and 13 of its last 19 games. It fell to just 1-3 on a seven-game homestand versus the Astros and Dodgers. The Padres will welcome Manny Ramirez and LA to Petco Park for a three-game series over the weekend. Ramirez is coming off a 50-game suspension for the use of performance enhancing drugs.
SERIES WINS NOT COMING FOR D-BACKS
The Arizona Diamondbacks are brutal. They sit last in the NL West standings at 19 games off the pace and are also 11 1/2 games behind in the wild card race.
Over its last 11 series, Arizona (31-48) is only 1-8-2, with the lone victory coming against the Kansas City Royals from June 16-18. The D-Backs haven't won a series against a National League team since winning three of four matchups against the Florida Marlins from May 19-21.
Much of the blame can be directed towards the starting pitching staff. Brandon Webb is pretty much done for the season, Jon Garland hasn't won since May 19 and Doug Davis owns one win since May 4. Dan Haren and Max Scherzer have been respectable, but overall the rotation is under siege.
Garland has lost six of his last eight starts after opening the campaign 4-2 in eight trips to the hill. Garland is just 4-8 with a 4.81 ERA in 16 starts.
<< Blue Jays bring up Dellucci, designate Adams for assignment
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays purchased the contract of
outfielder David Dellucci from Triple-A Las Vegas and designated infielder
Russ Adams for assignment on Friday.
The 35-year-old Dellucci signed a minor lea
<< Rangers sign Arnason
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Rangers inked forward Tyler
Arnason to a two-way contract on Friday.
The 30-year-old posted five goals and 22 points in 71 games for the Avalanche
last season.
Over 487 career contests
<< Serena and Venus will decide Wimbledon champ on Saturday
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Serena Williams and third-
seeded Venus Williams will square off in Saturday's ladies' final at
Wimbledon, where Venus topped her younger sister in last year's third all-
Williams f
<< Rookie aims for repeat in Giants' tilt with Astros
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Sadowski will shoot for an encore performance tonight
for the NL Wild Card-leading San Francisco Giants, who will open a 10-game
homestand with the first of three consecutive meetings versus the Houston
Astros at AT&
Canucks ink former Red Wing Samuelsson to three-year deal >>
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks signed free agent
right wing Mikael Samuelsson to a three-year contract on Friday. Per club
policy, financial terms of the pact were not disclosed.
The 32-year-old Swiss had
Mariners activate P Kelley off DL >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners activated rookie reliever
Shawn Kelley from the 15-day disabled list on Friday.
Kelley has been sidelined since May 6 with a strained oblique muscle in his
left side. The right-han
Rapids aim to continue Independence Day dominance >>
Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Fire returns to Major League
Soccer action for the first time in three weeks on Saturday when the club
travels to Dick's Sporting Goods Park to meet the Colorado Rapids.
Chicago has been
Pavlyuchenko unsure over Spurs future >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko is
seeking talks over his future when he returns for the start of preseason
training.
Pavlyuchenko scored 14 goals in 32 games in his first season in the Pr
NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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2007 Academy Award Betting : Oscars odds
The 79th Annual Academy Awards odds , which will air February 25th, is sparking an interest throughout the nation with the announcement of its nominees. As the public chooses their favorites, sportsbooks are creating odds for one of the biggest entertainment betting nights of the year.
Whether its at a “Oscar Party” or in an on line sportsbook, entertainment gambling on award shows represent a huge increase in betting. As the public speculation mounts, MySportsbook.com, the largest and most respected sportsbook on the web, posted odds on who is going home with a “Golden Best Friend.”
“ We see a majority of our entertainment wagers come from the Academy Awards,” said MySportsbook.com spokesperson, Tim Dalton. “This is a competition that applies to everyone. These are the people that entertain us on a daily basis and you want to see them win.”
MySportsbook.com posted the following odds for Academy Awards:
Odds to win the Achievement in Directing:
Alejandro González Iñárritu "Babel": 8/1
Martin Scorsese "The Departed": 2/17
Clint Eastwood "Letters From Iwo Jima: 4/1
Stephen Frears "The Queen": 12/1
Paul Greengrass "United 93": 15/1
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:
Leonardo DiCaprio in "Blood Diamond": 11/1
Ryan Gosling in "Half Nelson": 20/1
Peter O’Toole in "Venus": 16/5
Will Smith in "The Pursuit of Happyness": 16/1
Forest Whitaker in "The Last King of Scotland": 1/11
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role:
Penélope Cruz in "Volver": 18/1
Judi Dench in "Notes on a Scandal": 15/1
Helen Mirren in "The Queen": 1/50
Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada": 10/1
Kate Winslet in "Little Children": 20/1
Best Animated Feature Film:
"Cars": 1/3
"Happy Feet": 2/1
"Monster House": 20/1
Best Foreign-Language Film of the Year:
"Water" – Canada: 22/1
"The Lives of Others" – Germany: 7/2
"After the Wedding" - Denmark: 24/1
"Days of Glory (Indigenes)" – Algeria: 23/1
"Pan's Labyrinth" - Mexico: 1/10
Odds to win the Best Live-Action Short Film:
"Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea)": 6/5
"Eramos Pocos (One Too Many)": 7/2
"Helmer & Son": 5/2
"The Saviour": 6/1
"West Bank Story": 7/2
Odds to win the Best Original Screenplay:
"Babel": 7/4
"Letters From Iwo Jima": 3/1
"Little Miss Sunshine": 21/20
"Pan's Labyrinth": 11/4
"The Queen": 5/4
Best Motion Picture of the Year:
"Babel": 11/4
"The Departed": 1/2
"Letters from Iwo Jima": 15/2
"Little Miss Sunshine": 17/10
"The Queen": 20/1
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role:
Alan Arkin in "Little Miss Sunshine": 11/10
Jackie Earle Haley in "Little Children": 10/1
Djimon Hounsou in "Blood Diamond": 9/1
Eddie Murphy in "Dreamgirls": 2/5
Mark Wahlberg in "The Departed": 5/1
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role:
Adriana Barraza in "Babel": 14/1
Cate Blanchett in "Notes on a Scandal": 11/1
Abigail Breslin in "Little Miss Sunshine": 2/1
Jennifer Hudson in "Dreamgirls": 1/8
Rinko Kikuchi in "Babel": 11/1
Film To Win Most Oscars:
Dreamgirls: 2/3
Pans Labyrinth: 6/5
The Departed: 6/1
The Queen: 11/1
Babel: 15/1
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: 11/1
Little Miss Sunshine: 15/1
Additional sports and entertainment odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
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