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.

Wwwmaxim Baseball Betting News

<< Giants send Lincecum to the hill versus Dodgers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Lincecum goes after win No. 11 this evening when the San Francisco Giants open a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at AT&T Park. Lincecum has not received a decision in either of his last two outing

<< Slumping Diamondbacks visit Mets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The slumping Arizona Diamondbacks head to New York in hopes of notching a rare road win when they open a three-game weekend series with the Mets at Citi Field. The Diamondbacks, now 24 games off the pace in the National Le

<< Yankees open key set with Rays; A-Rod tries again for 600th homer
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez's quest to become the youngest player in baseball history with 600 home runs takes him to St. Petersburg where the New York Yankees open a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Ro

<< Tigers hope to stop road skid in clash with Red Sox
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers are quickly falling out of contention in the American League Central. Tonight, they try to put the brakes on their 10- game road losing streak when they open a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox a

<< Blue Jays seek fourth straight victory in opener with Indians
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays take aim at their fourth straight win this evening when they open a three-game series against the Cleveland Indians at Rogers Centre. Toronto started its six-game homestand in impressive fashion, as i

Royals continue set with Orioles in Kansas City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles hope a flurry of changes can help lead to more results like the team produced on Thursday. The revamped club will set its sights on a second straight victory over the Kansas City Royals, who'll be out

Twins return home to face Mariners >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off a wildly successful road trip, the surging Minnesota Twins return to Target Field this evening to play the first of three consecutive matchups with the Seattle Mariners. The Twins are back home after going 6-1 on

Division leaders square off in Cincinnati >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of National League divisional front-runners get together for a potential playoff preview tonight when the Central-leading Cincinnati Reds host the East-leading Atlanta Braves in the first of three at Great American Ba

2010 FBS Positional Analysis: Linebackers >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - They are free to roam the middle of the field, looking to lay the lumber on the ball-carriers and receivers that dare to enter their domain. The job of the linebacker is to be instinctual, to be in the right

Flames ink White >>
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Calgary Flames signed defenseman Ian White to a one-year contract on Friday. White was part of the blockbuster deal at last season's trade deadline that saw blueliner Dion Phaneuf heading from Calgar

SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.