Twins go for sweep of Angels

Baseball Betting Lines

07/22/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Losers of two straight and five of the last six, the LA Angels of Anaheim try to salvage a win as they close out a three-game set against the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome this afternoon.

On Saturday Joe Mauer produced one of the most exciting plays in baseball when he hit an inside-the-park home run that scored three in the bottom of the eighth inning to help give the home team a 5-2 triumph over the Angels.

Jason Bartlett and Torii Hunter also homered for the Twins, who won their second straight outing after falling in three straight to Detroit. Starting pitcher Boof Bonser, who has not earned a victory since the second week of June, allowed two runs on five hits with one strikeout over 7 2/3 innings before Pat Neshek got the final out in the eighth for the win, his fifth in six decisions this season.

Chone Figgins finished up 2-for-4 with an RBI and scored a run for the visitors, while Garret Anderson and Maicer Izturis both added a pair of hits in the setback.

Jered Weaver, who has not won in more than a month, gave up two runs on five hits with a walk and two strikeouts over seven innings for LA. Scot Shields was saddled with the loss, his third of the campaign.

Off the field it was announced that catcher Jose Melina was switching teams and coasts as the Angels traded him to the Yankees for pitcher Jeff Kennard.

Matt Garza, who has yet to allow a run this season, makes his way to the mound for the Twins this afternoon. The right-hander out of Fresno State is making just his fourth appearance of the season and his first since dropping a 1-0 decision to Detroit on Tuesday.

Against the Tigers Garza allowed just a single unearned run on three hits over seven innings of action and still that wasn't enough as the Minnesota offense failed to supply any support.

Garza, who is 4-7 in his career thus far, is facing off against the Angels for the very first time.

Similarly, LA's Joe Saunders is getting his first-ever look at the Twins lineup as he tries to remain undefeated on the campaign.

The left-hander, who hails from Virginia, has been called up from Triple-A Salt Lake to take the spot in the rotation previously held by Ervin Santana who was optioned to the minors on Wednesday.

Saunders last threw at the major league level against Pittsburgh back on June 22, a game in which he allowed four runs on seven hits and fanned three in six innings of work. His performance was just enough to push him to 3-0 on the season and 10-3 for his career thus far.

The Angels, who have now gone 14 straight games without a home run, are just one game ahead of Seattle in the AL West and are a game below .500 on the road at 25-26. Over the last week the team has averaged barely three runs per game, with Figgins accounting for five runs scored and a batting average of .545, the rest of the club just .248.

As for the Twins, who are five games over .500 this season yet still eight games out of the race for first in the AL Central, they have Justin Morneau accounting for two home runs and six knocked in over the last six games, giving him 81 RBI on the season and keeping him in second place in that department in the AL.

The Angels took two of three meetings with Minnesota out in the Golden State earlier this season.

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.