Rangers try to deal spiraling Tigers a seventh straight loss

Baseball Betting Lines

07/20/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tommy Hunter hopes to deliver Texas' first series win in Detroit since 2007 this evening, when the Rangers play the middle test of their three-game set with the Tigers at Comerica Park.

Texas had lost 11 straight in Detroit before Nelson Cruz's two-run homer in the 14th inning propelled the Rangers to an 8-6 win in Monday's opener. Ian Kinsler provided a two-run homer and three RBI, while Josh Hamilton had four hits and drove in a run as the Rangers pounded out 19 hits to win for the fourth time in five contests overall and the 13th time in their last 16 on the road.

With another victory tonight, the Rangers would claim their first series win in Detroit since taking two of three from the Tigers in June of 2007.

Enrique Gonzalez (0-1) walked Hamilton with one out in the 14th before Cruz sent a 1-2 offering to the opposite field that landed barely over the wall in right for his 12th homer of the season. Cruz, who had three hits and four RBI, has gone 12-for-23 with 10 runs driven in over his last five games.

"It was a good feeling, especially since we had a hard time driving in a run after the seventh inning," Cruz said. "It was good to get that."

Matt Harrison (2-1) allowed two hits over four innings to get the win and Neftali Feliz recorded his 25th save, tying Kansas City's Joakim Soria for the American League lead.

Miguel Cabrera homered twice and drove in three runs for Detroit, but the Tigers dropped their season-high sixth straight game. Detroit also lost third baseman Brandon Inge, who suffered a non-displaced fracture of the fifth metacarpal bone after getting hit with a pitch in the left hand during the game. He will miss the next 4-to-6 weeks.

"When you're going good you get them in and when you're not you don't," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "We had some opportunities to do that, but we didn't do that [Monday]. It's part of struggling."

The Rangers hope to keep rolling tonight as Hunter tries to go 7-0 on the year. The 24-year-old beat Boston on Thursday, holding the Red Sox to a pair of runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings to become the first Texas starter to begin a season 6-0 since Esteban Loaiza in 1999.

Hunter, who beat the Tigers the only other time he faced them, has held opponents to two earned runs or fewer in seven of his eight outings and has pitched to a 2.39 earned run average on the season.

Detroit, meanwhile, recalled righty Armando Galarraga to make the start tonight. Galarraga, who nearly threw a perfect game earlier in the season, was optioned to Triple-A Toledo earlier in the month because the Tigers did not have the need for a fifth starter until now. He is 3-2 with a 4.45 ERA on the year.

Galarraga has faced the Rangers three times and is 2-1 with a 3.60 ERA against them.

Texas has won three of its five matchups with the Tigers this season after losing seven of the nine meetings a year ago.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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