Boston's Lester takes mound vs. Rangers

Baseball Betting Lines

07/18/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jon Lester goes for his seventh straight home win today, as he leads the Boston Red Sox into the finale of a four-game series with the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park.

Lester, who tossed a perfect inning in the All-Star game on Tuesday, has been one of the hottest pitchers around, especially at home, where has won six straight starts with a 1.60 ERA over that stretch. The left-hander, who is 11-1 with a 1.90 ERA in his last 15 starts overall, allowed two earned runs over six innings of a 14-3 win over Toronto in his last outing on July 9th.

In five career starts against Texas, Lester is a perfect 2-0 with a 3.55 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 33 innings.

Getting the nod for the Rangers is C.J. Wilson, who is 1-3 with a 3.05 ERA in seven road starts this season. His lone road win, however, did come at Boston on April 22nd, tossing 6 2/3 scoreless innings in a 3-0 blanking. It marked his first career start against the Red Sox.

Wilson, though, is coming off a shaky start last Sunday, when he allowed three earned runs over just 4 2/3 innings of a 4-1 loss against Baltimore. He walked five in his second shortest outing of the campaign.

With Lester and Wilson opposing each other this could be another tight game like Saturday, when Kevin Youkilis' sacrifice fly in the 11th inning gave the Red Sox a 3-2 win over the Rangers in the third contest of a four-game set from Fenway Park.

With Alexi Ogando (3-1) on the mound, Marco Scutaro led off the 11th with a walk. Darnell McDonald then laid down a bunt that Ogando fielded, but his rushed throw to second went off of Scutaro and into the outfield, putting runners at second and third. After an intentional walk to David Ortiz, Darren O'Day took the mound, and Youkilis lofted a fly ball to center that allowed Scutaro to score with ease for the win.

Youkilis went 2-for-4 and tied the game in the ninth with an RBI double, while Ortiz drove in the other run for the Red Sox, who had dropped three of four.

"You don't have to hit home runs to win ballgames," Youkilis said. "That shows tonight. That's one of the things I said in the dugout in extra innings. We don't need a home run."

John Lackey went seven innings in the start and was charged with two runs on seven hits with a pair of walks and three strikeouts. Manny Delcarmen (3-2) got the win for throwing a flawless 11th inning.

Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz each had two hits and an RBI for the Rangers, who have lost five of seven.

Cliff Lee made his second start in a Texas uniform and again went nine innings as he was charged with two runs on six hits with a walk and six strikeouts.

"Still kind of frustrated with giving up that run in the ninth when we've got a one-run lead there," Lee said. "But other than that I'm pretty pleased with how it went."

Boston took two of three bouts from the Rangers in an April series and have won in 12 of the past 17 meetings between the teams held in Beantown.

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Colts give the ‘D’ its due

The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.

They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.

"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."

Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.

New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.

Not so sound on the ground

If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com

“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.

Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.

Brees says bring it on

Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.

Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.

Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.

"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."

SportsBooks ready for a shootout

Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.

“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”

New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.

The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.

“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

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