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NL East: With playoffs in sight, Braves make a switch at shortBaseball Betting Lines07/16/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It appears as though the Atlanta Braves got tired of waiting for Yunel Escobar. The Braves dealt the 27-year-old shortstop to the Blue Jays on Wednesday in a five-player trade that sent 33-year-old Alex Gonzalez to the Braves. Atlanta also shipped 25-year-old pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes to Toronto for the shortstop while getting back a pair of minor league players in the deal as well. Escobar was a second-round pick of the Braves in 2005 and showed flashes of being a solid player for Atlanta. He hit .299 last season with 14 homers and 76 RBI, but was batting only .238 in 2010 with 19 RBI and zero home runs this year before the trade and has before taken heat due to his inability to mature and grow on the field. Escobar has at times looked lazy on defense and was prone to making mental mistakes. Currently the owners of first place in the National League East, the Braves decided to part ways with a young talent in exchange for a veteran presence at short in Gonzalez as they look to make a playoff run in manager Bobby Cox's final season before retirement. "We have been looking at ways to strengthen our club offensively and Alex Gonzalez is a proven veteran player who gives us added power," said Braves general manager Frank Wren. "He is a winner and a solid offensive presence in the lineup as well as a quality defensive shortstop." A member of the 2003 Florida Marlins championship club, Gonzalez was hitting .259 this year with 17 home runs and 50 RBI with the Blue Jays. His trade to the Braves marks his fifth different team since making his debut in 1998. The right-handed hitter has also played with the Marlins, Red Sox and Reds in addition to the Blue Jays. Gonzalez went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk in his Atlanta debut on Thursday, a 2-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. MARLINS: RAMIREZ, JOHNSON SHINE AT ALL-STAR GAME They may have some ground to make up if they want to compete for a playoff spot, but that didn't stop some of the Florida Marlins from making a name for themselves at this past week's All-Star Game. The Marlins have a pair of representatives in Anaheim in shortstop Hanley Ramirez and pitcher Josh Johnson. Ramirez was voted in to start at short for the Mid-Summer classic, but his biggest impact came at Monday's Home Run Derby. Ramirez had 13 homers at the break, but belted a total of 26 during the event. The 26-year-old made it to the finals, but hit just five in the final round to finish second behind Boston's David Ortiz. "The most important thing tonight is that we were all rooting for each other," Ramirez told MLB.com. "Nobody was rooting for himself. We had fun." It was then Johnson's turn to shine during Tuesday's game. Though given serious consideration to start, Johnson entered the game in the third inning after Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez threw the first two frames. The right-handed Johnson didn't allow a hit in his two innings of work, striking out two while throwing 18 of his 29 pitches for strikes. Considered a contender for this year's NL Cy Young Award, Johnson went 9-3 in the first half and led the majors with a 1.70 earned run average while striking out 123 batters over 122 innings. NATIONALS: CLOSER HELPS CAP NL ALL-STAR VICTORY The rule in major league baseball has always been that every team must be represented at the annual All-Star Game. That means even last-place clubs that are 11 games under .500 at the break get represented at the Mid-Summer Classic, which is why Nationals closer Matt Capps found himself among baseball's elite in Anaheim this week. Capps earned the All-Star nod over teammates Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn, who both could have made a case to serve as Washington's representative, but don't think Capps wasn't worthy either. The 26-year-old is tied for third in the NL with 23 saves and is just four shy of matching the 27 he posted last season with Pittsburgh. In his first year with the Nationals, Capps is 3-3 with a 3.18 earned run average in 41 games. He has also been charged with four blown saves, but was credited with the win in Tuesday's 3-1 victory over the American League. The right-hander faced just one batter, but struck out Boston's David Ortiz to end the sixth inning with a runner on first base. "It feels pretty good," Capps told MLB.com after the game. "I just came in to face one hitter. The guys did a great job of putting some runs up later. ... It worked out well, I'm very pleased with it, excited about it." There was some rumblings out there, mostly by the media, that starter Stephen Strasburg should have been named to the All-Star roster. While the soon-to-be 22-year-old has lived up to his epic hype so far, going 3-2 with a 2.32 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 42 2/3 innings, the bottom line is that the phenom has made just seven major league starts. His time to run with the All-Stars will come soon enough. PHILLIES: HOWARD GETTING HOT While the Philadelphia Phillies' offense continues to run warm and cool, All- Star first baseman Ryan Howard is doing his best to stay at one temperature: hot. Howard hit a pair of two-run homers in Thursday's loss to the Chicago Cubs, giving him a National League-leading 69 runs batted in heading into play on Friday as well as 19 homers and a .298 batting average. The left-handed slugger is on pace for his highest season average since a .313 clip during his 2006 MVP season. The 30-year-old has driven in 14 runs over his last 10 games, belting four homers in that span. Howard could use some help though. While the Phillies continue to play without second baseman Chase Utley (right thumb) and third baseman Placido Polanco (left elbow), outfielder Shane Victorino is hitting just .252 while shortstop Jimmy Rollins has a current average of .248. Polanco, who was hitting .318 before going on the disabled list, could return before the end of this weekend. "He might be," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel told Philadelphia's website on Thursday. "We'll see. He might join us in a couple days -- hopefully will. We'll see how it goes." METS: BELTRAN RETURNS The New York Mets know they need a little something extra if they are to catch the first-place Atlanta Braves in the National League East. Enter Carlos Beltran. The 33-year-old returned to center field on Thursday versus the Giants, his first major league game this season. Offseason knee surgery caused Beltran to miss all of spring training and the first half of this season. Beltran didn't have it easy in his return as he faced two-time defending NL Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum, who threw a six-hit shutout versus the Mets. Beltran went 1-for-4 in the 2-0 loss and was also thrown out trying to steal second. "I thought he had some good at-bats, for the first time facing a major league pitcher of that stature," said Mets manager Jerry Manuel. A five-time All-Star, Beltran was limited to just 81 games last year due to injury, but hit .325 with 10 homers with 48 RBI. In 161 games in 2008, he batted .284 with 27 homers and 112 RBI. A healthy Beltran should take some pressure off teammates David Wright and rookie Ike Davis. Beltran hit between the two on Thursday, with Davis shifting down to the fifth spot, while Jason Bay hit sixth.
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March Madness odds and printable March Madness brackets With the field of 64/65 set, MySportsbook.com has the Florida Gators as the 4-1 favorite to successfully defend their National Championship. Men’s Division-1 College Basketball has not seen a team repeat as National Champions since Duke won back to back championships in ’91 & ‘92. After losing three out of four late in the season, the Gators are full of momentum as they won their last four games by an average of 18 points. Not surprisingly, right behind the Gators are the other three top seeds: Kansas 5-1, UNC 6-1, and Ohio State 7-1. Many consider Kansas to be the hottest team in the country, having won 11 straight. With Kansas, it is hard to ignore all of the early exits from the “dance” in recent years. With an impressive ACC Tournament, UNC ensured themselves the other top seed. UNC has about as much talent as any other team in the tournament but with a team that’s best players are primarily freshman and sophomores, could youth be a concern. Behind freshman sensation, Greg Oden, OSU will look to do what their football team failed to do just a few months earlier. OSU seems to have peeked at the right time, as they currently have a 17 game winning streak. Since the tournament field was expanded in 1985, there has never been an instance where all four #1 seeds advanced to the Final Four. It is obvious that each of the top seeds have the talent to make it through to Atlanta. But as everyone knows, when makes the NCAA Tournament so special are all of the spoilers and “Cinderella” stories that knock off the favorites on a daily basis. Be sure to logon to MySportsbook.com to see check out all of the early lines and “March Madness” props. Also be sure to enter the “$10,000,000 Perfect Bracket Contest”. If someone has the skills to predict every winner, they will be set for life and walk away with $10,000,000. Even if no one can cash in on the Grand Prize, with a $35,000 guaranteed prize pool and a Mazda RX-8 to the first prize winner, Sportsbook.com’s bracket is a must for all “March Madness” fans. MySportsbook.com’s odds to win the Championship and Regions:
Field 100-1 About MySportsbook.com MySportsbook.com is the largest sportsbook and casino on the planet, where millions of adult Americans bet on sports, play poker and enjoy blackjack and other casino games online in a regulated and licensed jurisdiction. Named the "Best US Sports Book" by the industry's top magazine, eGaming Review, MySportsbook.com has been leading the online gaming industry since 1996. Dwarfing its nearest competitors in the US, MySportsbook.com has been the first to achieve every significant industry milestone, from record turnover to active users to number of bets--achieving a peak of fifteen bets per second. As the US online gaming leader, the firm and it's products have been featured on CBS 60 Minutes, CNN, ESPN, Wall Street Journal, Barrons, Financial Times, USA Today and in every major newspaper in the US. To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards. Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana Should be in: Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it? Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel. Work left to do: Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third. Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim. Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either. Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim. For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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