Angels send Weaver to mound in finale with Royals

Baseball Betting Lines

06/03/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jered Weaver can get the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim back to .500 this afternoon when they go for a series win in the finale of their four-game series against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

Anaheim, which spent all of May below the break even mark, won for the fourth time in five tries on Wednesday, as Torii Hunter went 3-for-5 with a homer and drove in three runs, helping the Angels to a 7-2 win.

Scott Kazmir was charged with five hits and a run over 5 2/3 innings and won for just the second time in his last seven starts.

All the news was not good for the Angels, though, as outfielder Juan Rivera was forced to leave the game in the fifth inning after fouling a ball off his foot the inning before. X-Rays taken after the game were inconclusive and he is listed as day-to-day.

Kyle Davies (4-4) allowed eight hits and six runs over four-plus innings for the Royals, who lost for the fourth time in five games overall.

"I keyholed myself a little bit," Davies said. "I tried to be perfect the rest of the game and I never got in synch. Command never got to where it was supposed to be and they hit me pretty good."

David DeJesus had a pair of hits and drove in a run for Kansas City, which has lost 11 of its last 13 games against the Angels.

Weaver, meanwhile, is winless in his last four starts and comes into today's finale sporting a 4-2 mark to go along with a 3.01 ERA. Weaver allowed just an unearned run in seven innings in his last trip to the hill on Saturday against Seattle, but did not factor in the decision of his team's 5-1, 10-inning win.

The 27-year-old righty is 3-4 in seven starts against the Royals with a 3.35 ERA in seven starts.

Kansas City's hopes rest on the right arm of reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke, who has lost his last two starts and is just 1-6 on the year with a 3.39 ERA. Greinke pitched well in Boston on Saturday, surrendering a run and five hits in six innings, but his team could not muster a run in the 1-0 setback.

Greinke, who has allowed three runs or less in all but two of his 11 starts this season, is just 1-3 lifetime against the Angels with a 3.89 ERA in six games (five starts).

The Angels have dominated this series of late, having won 14 of their 17 most recent matchups with the Royals. They also have just three losses in their last 13 trips to Kansas City.

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Super Bowl 2009 Betting

Super Bowl 2009 Betting propositions

Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.

Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.

Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.

If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.

Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.

By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.

In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.

So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.

While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.

There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.

In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:

SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.

XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.

XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.

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