Blue Jays try to extend road success in finale with Royals

Baseball Betting Lines

08/13/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays aim for a rare road series win when they close out a four-game set with the Kansas City Royals this evening at Kauffman Stadium.

Toronto has claimed two of the first three weekend matchups with Kansas City to improve its lackluster season road record to 24-35. The Blue Jays have not won a series away from home since prior to the All-Star break, when the club took two of three tests in Oakland from July 2-4.

The Jays also have not posted back-to-back road victories since following up a June 13 decision over San Francisco with a triumph at Minnesota on June 25.

They'll have a chance to do so tonight after posting a 4-1 win over the Royals on Sunday. A.J. Burnett made a successful return from a lengthy stay on the disabled list, as the oft-injured right-hander twirled 7 1/3 innings to lead Toronto to victory.

Burnett (6-6), who had been sidelined with a sore shoulder since late June, held Kansas City to one run and three hits while recording five strikeouts. He had a shutout bid spoiled when Alex Gordon led off the bottom of the eighth with a solo home run.

Lyle Overbay paced the Toronto offense with three hits and two RBI, while Gregg Zaun ended 2-for-4 with two runs scored to help the Jays to their third win in four games.

Brian Bannister (8-7) took the loss for Kansas City, getting chased with two outs in the fifth after allowing three runs on seven hits and walking three.

Jesse Litsch (4-4) will attempt to duplicate Burnett's gem when he takes the mound for the visiting Blue Jays tonight. The rookie has been impressive as of late, having posted a 2-0 record with a 1.93 earned run average over his three most recent starts.

After yielding just one run over 13 2/3 combined innings in consecutive wins over Minnesota and Tampa Bay, Litsch took a step back in an August 6 outing against the Yankees. The 22-year-old allowed three runs on six hits over five frames and did not factor in the decision of his team's 5-4 loss.

Litsch has also pitched very well on the road this season, bringing a 2-2 record with an impressive 2.51 ERA in five away starts into tonight's finale. He has never previously faced Kansas City.

The Royals will hand the ball to struggling southpaw Odalis Perez, who suffered his third loss in four starts with Wednesday's home setback to Minnesota.

Perez lasted just three innings against the Twins and yielded six runs (three earned) on seven hits. The shoddy performance gave the native Dominican a 6.46 ERA in six starts following the All-Star break.

The 30-year-old was also roughed up by the Blue Jays in Toronto back in April. Perez permitted four runs and seven hits before being yanked after just 1 1/3 innings in that 9-1 defeat. He is 2-2 with a 4.79 ERA in four overall starts against the Blue Jays.

Toronto has won four of six meetings with the Royals this season and eight of the last 11 matchups in the overall series.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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