Greinke goes for Royals in opener with Tigers

Baseball Betting Lines

09/03/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke can continue a recent hot streak tonight when the Kansas City Royals host the Detroit Tigers in the opener of a three-game weekend series at Kauffman Stadium.

A 16-game winner with a 2.16 earned run average last season, Greinke was 7-11 this year after allowing six runs on 10 hits in a 7-1 loss at Seattle on Aug. 6. However, he's turned it around statistically in four starts since, allowing just seven runs on 28 hits in 30 innings while going 1-0 with three no- decisions.

He last faced the Tigers back on Opening Day in Kansas City and got a no- decision after allowing an earned run on six hits in six innings of Detroit's 8-4 win.

Lifetime against them, he is 11-5 with two complete games and a 2.45 ERA in 121 innings.

The Tigers counter with hard-throwing righty Jeremy Bonderman, who picked up his 10th career win against the Royals in his most recent start on Aug. 23. The 27-year-old scattered eight hits and allowed two runs while striking out three in the win, which was his first since Aug. 3 and stopped a three-start losing skid.

He was held out of his normal rotation slot five days later after feeling tightness in his rib cage and was replaced by rookie Alfredo Figaro, but a bullpen session this week went well enough for him to take the turn against the Royals.

Bonderman, who's won just 10 times in 44 games since the close of 2007 after notching double-digit wins for four straight seasons, is 2-5 on the road this year with a 6.83 ERA in 56 2/3 innings.

On Thursday in Minnesota, Gerald Laird's 13th-inning home run was the difference, as the Tigers pulled out a 10-9 victory over the Twins in the finale of a three-game series.

Laird's blast was one of five Tigers home runs, as Don Kelly, Jhonny Peralta and Ryan Raburn also went deep. Casper Wells hit his first career homer to tie the contest in the ninth inning for Detroit, which had dropped the first two games of this set.

The Tigers, though, lost first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who had to leave the games with left biceps tendinitis. He is questionable for tonight's affair.

On Wednesday in Kansas City, Mitch Moreland's solo home run leading off the sixth inning proved to be the difference, as the Texas Rangers clipped the Royals, 4-3, in the rubber match of a three-game series.

Yuniesky Betancourt hit a solo home run and an RBI double for the Royals, while Bryan Bullington (1-4) yielded four runs and eight hits over 5 1/3 innings to absorb the loss.

The Royals have split their 12 meetings with the Tigers this season.

Wwwbingogala Baseball Betting News

<< Nats, Pirates open set in the Steel City
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ageless right-hander Livan Hernandez can reach double- digit wins for the 11th time in his big-league career tonight when the soon- to-be-shorthanded Washington Nationals visit the Pittsburgh Pirates for the first of three

<< Cards hope to revive postseason hopes in opener with Reds
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time the Cardinals faced the Reds, they completed a three-game sweep that gave them sole possession of first place in the National League Central. The teams have drastically gone in opposite directions since. F

<< Myers opposes red-hot Hudson in the desert
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trade deadline pick-up Daniel Hudson can continue a sterling National League debut tonight when the Arizona Diamondbacks host the Houston Astros in the opener of a three-game series at Chase Field. A 23-year-old from Lynch

<< Zito hopes to get on track at Chavez Ravine
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The door has been left open for the Giants to make a run at the National League West title. That means now would be a good time for Barry Zito to get back on track. The struggling former Cy Young Award winner will try to s

<< Nationwide to sponsor Memorial Tournament
Dublin, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nationwide Insurance will become the presenting sponsor of the PGA Tour's Memorial Tournament beginning in 2011. The company has committed to sponsor Jack Nicklaus' popular tournament, held annually at Muirfi

Rays hope Garza can stay hot against O's >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays need all the wins they can get if the team is going to capture home-field advantage throughout the upcoming American League playoffs. With Matt Garza on the mound against the Baltimore Orioles, the po

Playoff-hopeful Phils return home to battle Brewers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Phillies All-Star second baseman Chase Utley recorded just four runs batted in during August. At the pace Utley's at so far in September, his RBI total for the month will be astronomical. Utley and the Nationa

Rockies visit Padres for clash of slumping contenders >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If the Colorado Rockies are going to return to the postseason, they need to turn it around soon. This weekend would be a good start, as they begin a three-game series against the National League West- leading San Diego Padres

A's seeking to get back on track against Angels >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics are coming off a beating in the Bronx and are back in the Bay Area to kick off a nine-game homestand starting with Friday's opener of a three-game series versus the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The

Indians, Mariners continue set between last-place clubs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shin-Soo Choo and the Cleveland Indians look to remain in the win column when they resume a four-game series against the homestanding Seattle Mariners tonight from Safeco Field. Choo stroked a three-run double during a fou

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.