Cleveland's Carmona takes on Royals shooting for 17th win

Baseball Betting Lines

09/15/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fausto Carmona goes for win No. 17 this evening when the Cleveland Indians continue their three-game series against the Kansas City Royals at Jacobs Field.

Carmona has been a pleasant surprise for the AL Central-leading Indians this season, going 16-8 with a 3.20 earned run average, just one year after finishing 1-10 with a 5.42 ERA.

The 23-year-old righty won his second straight start on Monday against the Chicago White Sox, as he allowed one earned run and three hits in seven innings.

Carmona has beaten the Royals twice already this season and is 2-0 against them in his young career with a 3.77 ERA in six games, four of which have been starts.

Kansas City will counter with right-hander Zack Greinke, who is 6-5 this season with a save and a 3.99 ERA. After three scoreless outings in his three starts since re-joining the rotation, Greinke was roughed up by the New York Yankees on Sunday for three runs and six hits in 3 2/3 innings, but did not factor in the decision of his team's 6-3 loss.

Greinke has faced the Indians 14 times (nine starts) and is 3-5 against them with a 4.39 ERA.

In the first game of this set on Friday, Casey Blake hit a game-ending home run in the bottom of the ninth, as the Indians rallied from three back for a 5-4 win. Franklin Gutierrez started the comeback with a two-run homer in the seventh and Victor Martinez added a solo shot in the eighth for Cleveland, which remained in firm control of the AL Central by 5 1/2 games with the win.

Blake led off the home-half of the ninth and turned on a David Riske (1-4) offering, depositing it over the left-field wall before being mobbed by his teammates at home. It was the 12th time this season that Cleveland won in its final at-bat at home.

With the win, the Indians improved to 16-4 in their last 20 games overall with their eighth win in nine home contests. They have 45 victories at Jacobs Field, their most since finishing 48-33 in 2000.

C.C. Sabathia set a new career high with 13 strikeouts, but allowed four runs over seven innings. The bullpen was lights out from there, with Joe Borowski (4-5) picking up the win after a scoreless ninth.

Brian Bannister allowed just one run on two hits over six frames for the Royals, who have dropped eight of nine. Bannister's bullpen failed him, however. Mark Grudzielanek had two RBI in defeat.

The Indians have taken eight of their 13 meetings with the Royals this season, including five of seven encounters held at Jacobs Field. Kansas City is just 4-12 in Cleveland since the start of the 2006 season.

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MySportsbook.com: NFL draft - The NFC South


In part two of MySportsbook.com’s draft preview, we’ll take a look at a division that was extremely disappointing last season: the NFC South.  Many “experts” predicted the Panthers to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, of course they could not even make the playoffs in an extremely weak NFC.  The Saints definitely made up for the disappointing seasons of their NFC South brethren by exploding out of no where en route to the NFC Championship game.  For the avid NFL gambler, it is imperative to pay attention to the NFL draft.  Although free agency gets a ton of publicity, the successful franchises build their teams around the draft.

1. New Orleans Saints
Who would have thought this time last year that the Saints would be the favorites to win the NFC South for the 2007 campaign?  New Orleans is loaded with firepower on the offensive side of the ball but with the exodus of Joe Horn they will most likely look to draft a WR on Day 1.  Despite having the NFL’s 3rd ranked pass defense last season, the Saints will most likely upgrade their CB’s with one of their first two picks. Other possibilities for the Saints will be TE and DT.  Because of where they will be selecting (27th), the Saints could go the “best available player” route which could net a LB.

Key additions: Eric Johnson TE, Troy Evans LB, David Patten WR
Key loses: Joe Horn WR,
Team needs: CB, WR, TE, LB, DT
Possible draftees: Aaron Ross CB Texas, Darrelle Revis CB Pitt, Ted Ginn Jr. WR OSU, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Chris Houston CB Arkansas, Greg Olsen TE Miami

2. Carolina Panthers
Carolina was one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL last season.  With the signing of David Carr, expect the very first quarterback controversy to come out of Carolina if Jake Delhomme doesn’t rebound quickly from an average 2007 season. With veteran safety Mike Minter getting up there in age, they will look to draft a safety on Day 1 but probably not in the first round.  LB is another need with the loss of Chris Draft to go along with Dan Morgan’s concussion problems.  If TE Greg Olsen is still on the board, he might be too good to pass up despite their needs on the defensive side of the ball.

Key additions: David Carr QB
Key loses: Chris Draft LB
Team needs: LB, TE, S, OT
Possible draftees: Greg Olsen TE Miami, Patrick Willis LB Ole Miss, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Levi Brown OT PSU

3. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were another NFC South team to have a disappointing 2007 season.  The Falcons have been plenty busy during the off season with plenty of players coming and going including a new head coach.  The Falcons were able to improve their draft position with the trade of coveted backup QB Matt Schaub.  High on the list of Day 1 needs will be a defensive end to replace Patrick Kerney and a hard hitting safety since Lawyer Milloy is nearing the end of his career.  With an additional 2nd round pick, the Falcons could attempt to trade up to acquire local product WR Calvin Johnson. 

Key additions: Joey Harrington QB, Toniu Fonoti OG, Joe Horn WR
Key loses: Justin Griffen RB, Patrick Kerney DE, Matt Lehr OG, Ashley Lelie WR, Matt Schaub QB
Team needs: DE, S, OT, WR, DT
Possible draftees: LaRon Landry S LSU, Amobi Okoye DT Louisville, Levi Brown OT PSU, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas, Alan Branch DT Michigan

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Age really caught up to the Bucs last season.  The Bucs still have plenty of household names on defense in Ronde Barber, Simeon Rice and Derrick Brooks but the one thing those three have in common is unfortunately age.  It is imperative for the Bucs to get much younger, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Despite having bigger needs on the defensive side of the ball, WR Calvin Johnson is the most likely pick if he is still available when the Bucs pick at the four spot.  This would suit Bucs’ faithful just fine as Johnson is widely considered the top talent in the draft and it is a position of need for the Bucs.

Key additions: Jeff Garcia QB, Kevin Carter DE, Torrie Cox CB, Cato June LB
Key loses: Dewayne White DE, Sean Mahan OG
Team needs: WR, LB, DE, CB (Youth on defense!)
Possible draftees: Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech, Gains Adams DE Clemson, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas

It is never too early to start betting on the NFL. Log on to MySportsbook.com to checkout all of the NFL futures for the upcoming season.  On the clock: the NFC North

Odds to win the NFC South:
New Orleans Saints 8-5
Carolina Panthers 2-1
Atlanta Falcons 12-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-2    

Odds to win the NFC:
New Orleans Saints 13-2
Carolina Panthers 7-1
Atlanta Falcons 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25-1

Odds to win the Super Bowl:
New Orleans Saints 18-1
Carolina Panthers 20-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 75-1

To visit this sportsbook get to MySportsbook.com for all your online sportsbook needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.