CC seeks ninth straight win as Yankees open set with Royals

Baseball Betting Lines

07/22/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - CC Sabathia has been nearly unbeatable for the New York Yankees over the past two months. With a matchup against the Kansas City Royals next on tap for the All-Star hurler, that string of success doesn't figure to change.

The Yankees ace sets his sights on claiming a ninth consecutive victory and becoming the American League's first 13-game winner when he takes the mound for the Bronx Bombers in tonight's opener of a four-game series with the Royals from Yankee Stadium.

Sabathia closed out his first half with a sensational eight-start run in which the big left-hander won every one of those outings and yielded three runs or less each time. That streak came to an end when he was reached for four runs (three earned) over seven innings against Tampa Bay this past Friday, but he still managed to secure a no-decision after the Yankees rallied late to come through with a 5-4 victory.

The 2007 AL Cy Young Award recipient has not taken a loss in 10 starts since a 6-4 setback to the crosstown-rival Mets on May 23 and has yet to be beaten at home thus far in 2010. In nine Yankee Stadium starts this season, Sabathia is 6-0 with a 2.53 earned run average and held opposing hitters to a .197 average.

Sabathia has also fared well when facing the perennial also-ran Royals over the years, having compiled a 15-10 record with a 3.27 ERA in 32 lifetime starts against Kansas City. In his lone encounter with the Royals last season, the four-time All-Star spun 7 2/3 shutout innings to deliver a win.

The Yankees have also been on a roll as a team in recent weeks. New York has won 11 of its past 14 contests to improve its major league-best record to 59-34 and extend its lead over second-place Tampa Bay in the AL East standings to 2 1/2 games.

The reigning world champions had lost twice in a three-game span, including a 10-2 rout at the hands of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Tuesday, but bounced back with a 10-6 triumph over the Halos in yesterday's finale of a brief two-game set.

Mark Teixeira led New York's 15-hit attack with a 3-for-5, three-RBI performance at the plate, with Derek Jeter also collecting three hits while scoring three times on the afternoon. The Yankees added three home runs in the win, including a three-run shot by Colin Curtis that was the rookie's first in the majors.

Robinson Cano had a two-run blast and Juan Miranda belted a solo homer in the seventh that gave New York a 7-5 lead. Curtis, replacing an ejected Brett Gardner with an 0-2 count, hammered a Scot Shields offering into the right- field seats later in the inning to give the Yankees a little more breathing room.

"A lot of excitement," said Curtis about his home run. "You see it go out and it's the first one of your career in a big situation and I was really excited."

Javier Vazquez (8-7) benefited from the Yankees' offensive outburst, with the veteran starter obtaining the victory despite allowing five runs on nine hits -- including a pair of homers -- over the first five innings.

New York will try to keep up its winning ways when it takes on a Kansas City club it's often dominated, especially in the Bronx. The Yankees won four of six matchups with the Royals last season and have gone 25-9 in the overall series since the start of the 2006 campaign, with a 14-4 record at home over that stretch.

Kansas City does come in on a high note, however, after taking two of three bouts from visiting Toronto earlier in the week. In Wednesday's rubber match, Zack Greinke tossed eight outstanding innings and Jose Guillen knocked in a pair of runs to lift the Royals to a 5-2 decision.

Guillen had a sacrifice fly in the third inning and an RBI double during a three-run fifth that staked Kansas City to a 5-1 advantage. That was all Greinke (6-9) would need, as the 2009 AL Cy Young Award honoree held the Blue Jays to two runs and struck out nine without walking a batter in an excellent 105-pitch effort.

"[Toronto] takes some really good swings," Greinke said. "You can't let them know what's coming because guys like that, no matter how good your stuff is, if you don't mix it up they're going to hit one eventually."

Billy Butler also had a run-scoring double in the fifth and Brayan Pena finished 3-for-4 with an RBI for the Royals, who'll send out Bruce Chen to oppose Sabathia this evening.

The journeyman left-hander won four of his first six decisions upon being inserted into the Kansas City rotation in late May, but has struggled in consecutive starts that followed a July 3 victory at Anaheim. In his final appearance before the All-Star break, Chen was tagged for three runs on six hits and lasted just 3 1/3 innings in a road loss to the Chicago White Sox on July 9.

The 33-year-old was only slightly better in his first go-around of the second half, permitting four runs and nine hits in a 5 2/3-inning no-decision against Oakland on Saturday. In nine overall starts for the year, Chen has still produced a respectable 4.28 ERA, however.

This will be Chen's first-ever time pitching at the new Yankee Stadium, but he's probably happy to see the old one no longer around. The Panama native went 0-3 in eight games (six starts) at New York's previous home, while allowing 31 runs (25 earned) and 45 hits in only 27 2/3 innings of work.

For his career, Chen is 1-3 with a 6.75 ERA over 14 appearances (10 starts) against the Yankees.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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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.

Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to bet on the NBA. With the regular season about to hit the homestretch, it is important to point out that MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.