With trade rumors swirling, ChiSox start set with Oakland

Baseball Betting Lines

07/30/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox have been an awfully tough team to beat over the past two months, and the current American League Central leaders have been virtually invincible at U.S. Cellular Field during that time period.

Chicago will attempt to extend its home winning streak to 12 consecutive games when the Oakland Athletics invade the Windy City tonight for the first of three straight meetings between the teams.

The White Sox continued their home dominance with Thursday's 9-5 victory over Seattle, which completed a four-game sweep for Ozzie Guillen's club. Chicago is now an astounding 18-1 at U.S. Cellular Field since June 9, and the team's 11-game surge is its longest as the host since the White Sox ripped off 13 straight wins at Comiskey Park from July 1-August 5, 1989.

"We come in believing we can win that game tonight -- no matter who we're facing," said first baseman Paul Konerko. "We just got into a good groove a while back of just coming in and playing nine innings as hard as we can."

Chicago mashed its way to its latest triumph, as Ramon Castro belted two solo home runs as part of a 3-for-4 night and Konerko and Carlos Quentin had back- to-back blasts in the seventh inning to put the game out of reach. Juan Pierre added a two-run double for the White Sox, while Omar Vizquel went 3-for-4 and also knocked in a pair of runs in the win.

The offensive outburst helped Freddy Garcia (10-4) record his 10th win of the season, with the ex-Mariner giving up three runs on seven hits over the first six innings.

Thursday's win extended the White Sox' lead over second-place Minnesota to 1 1/2 games in the AL Central standings.

Dan Hudson will try to keep Chicago rolling when he takes the mound for tonight's series opener. The well-regarded rookie also seeks to avenge a loss to the Athletics in his last start, a 6-4 setback last Sunday in which the young right-hander was tagged for five runs and issued four walks in five innings.

However, there is a good chance Hudson does not even make this start, as he is rumored to be heading to Arizona for right-hander Edwin Jackson.

Hudson performed much better in his previous outing, holding Seattle's anemic offense to a run while striking out six batters over 6 2/3 innings on July 19 to record his second career major league win. He's still had his struggles since taking over for the injured Jake Peavy in the Chicago rotation, though, registering a 6.32 ERA in three starts and walking 11 batters in 15 2/3 innings of work.

The 23-year-old also had a rough go-around in a relief appearance against Oakland last September, with Hudson reached for two runs and five hits in a 2 1/3-inning stay.

The Athletics did take two of three bouts from the White Sox in Oakland this past weekend, but couldn't follow up with a road series win over AL West front-runner Texas. After the divisional foes split the first two games of the set, the Rangers claimed last night's rubber match by a 7-4 count.

Vin Mazzaro (6-3) had a string of four straight winning decisions halted after the A's starter was battered for seven runs and 12 hits in 5 1/3 innings.

"They have a really good lineup, and you almost want to be perfect," Mazzaro said of the Rangers. "I had a tough one [Thursday], so I'll bounce back and get ready for the next start."

Rajai Davis went 2-for-5 with an RBI single for Oakland, which has still won 10 of its last 14 contests despite Thursday's setback. Kevin Kouzmanoff and Matt Carson also finished with a pair of hits in the loss.

The Athletics have been successful at U.S. Cellular Field in the recent past, having prevailed in four of six matchups with the White Sox there last season. Oakland has also won seven of the past 11 overall tilts in the series.

Oakland plans to hand the ball to Brett Anderson for the oft-injured youngster's first major-league start since June 3. The talented left-hander has spent two stints on the disabled list and been limited to six starts this season due to elbow problems, but pronounced himself ready to go by striking out nine over 5 1/3 shutout innings in a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento on Sunday.

When healthy, Anderson has been excellent for the A's this year. The 22-year- old has produced a 2.35 ERA over his six starts with the big club and hasn't allowed a home run in 30 2/3 innings, while walking only four batters during that stretch. He's yielded one run or fewer in four of those appearances.

In his only previous start at U.S. Cellular Field, Anderson spun seven shutout innings to defeat the White Sox during an 11-win rookie campaign in 2009.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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