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Red Sox, White Sox to begin set with double dipBaseball Betting Lines09/04/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- After mother nature delayed the opening of this important weekend set, the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox will renew acquaintances with a day-night doubleheader that begins this afternoon from Fenway Park. The arrival of Hurricane Earl to the New England region forced the postponement of last night's scheduled opener of this three-game series, which in turn pushed back the anticipated return of former Red Sox star Manny Ramirez to Fenway Park in a Chicago uniform. Ramirez, who spent eight memorable seasons with the Red Sox and played a big part in the franchise's World Series title-runs in both 2004 and 2007, was claimed off waivers by Chicago from the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday and made his White Sox debut in the club's 6-4 victory over Cleveland on Wednesday. The 12-time All-Star was traded to Boston to the Dodgers midway through the 2008 campaign following a sequence of conflicts with the Red Sox organization over various matters. The 38-year-old slugger went 1-for-3 with a strikeout in his first game with the White Sox and is batting .312 with eight homers and 40 RBI during an injury-plagued season. Ramirez will be playing in Fenway for the second time with the opposing team since his acrimonious departure two years ago, having done so with the Dodgers between June 18-20. He went 5-for-12 with a home run over the course of that three-game set. Chicago trailed 4-1 after seven innings in Wednesday's contest before scoring four times in the eighth to forge ahead, with Paul Konerko's three-run homer off Justin Germano giving the White Sox a 5-4 advantage. Alexei Ramirez hit a solo homer earlier in the frame to begin the comeback. Tony Pena (4-2) was credited with the win after throwing three innings in relief of starter Freddy Garcia, who was removed after the bottom of the fourth due to back spasms. Rookie Chris Sale picked up his first career save with a scoreless ninth. Alexei Ramirez knocked in two runs on the day and Alex Rios also homered for Chicago, which swept the three-game set with the Indians and stands four games back of Minnesota for first place in the American League Central. "It's nice, it's needed," Konerko said of the sweep. "Minnesota you always have to assume is going to win their games. The only time we can control what they're going to do is when we play them. We just have to assume they're going to win." The White Sox will face a tough test in the opener, with Boston sending Cy Young Award candidate Clay Buchholz to the hill today. The All-Star hurler sports a 15-5 record along with a stellar 2.21 earned run average -- tops in the majors at the moment -- and enters this outing carrying a seven-start unbeaten streak. Buchholz is 5-0 with a 1.07 ERA during that undefeated stretch and has permitted one run or less in all but one of those appearances. The right- hander was stuck with a no-decision in Boston's 3-2 loss at Tampa Bay last Saturday, but still held the Rays to two runs -- one earned -- and just four hits over 7 1/3 effective innings. The 26-year-old, who hasn't taken a loss since July 21 at Oakland, has not fared well in previous matchups with the White Sox, however. Buchholz was pounded for seven runs in just 4 2/3 innings by Chicago last season at Fenway Park, and surrendered five runs and seven hits over three frames in a setback at U.S. Cellular Field back in 2008. Boston returns home after going 3-3 on a six-game road trip through Tampa Bay and Baltimore, closing out the swing with a pair of victories over the lowly Orioles. The Red Sox scored five second-inning runs en route to a 6-4 triumph in last night's finale, with David Ortiz's two-RBI single highlighting the uprising. "We got after them early," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "David's two- out hit was huge." Adrian Beltre had a solo homer and Ryan Kalish added an RBI double during the big second inning, while Daisuke Matsuzaka (9-4) pitched into the bottom of the sixth to notch his ninth win of the season. The Japanese star was touched for four runs over 5 2/3 frames, but struck out six while walking just one batter. Jonathan Papelbon ran into some trouble in the ninth, allowing two Baltimore runners to reach base with one out, but the Boston closer settled down to strike out the game's final two hitters and record his 35th save. The Red Sox enter today's play seven games behind Tampa Bay for the lead in the AL Wild Card standings and will take their swings in game one off John Danks. The Chicago lefty will be seeking to rebound from a poor performance against the New York Yankees in his most recent start, when he was battered for eight runs and served up three homers in just 4 1/3 innings versus the Bronx Bombers on August 28. Danks also hasn't had much luck when taking on the Red Sox in the past, having compiled a 1-4 record and a 5.08 ERA over five lifetime starts in this series. He did best the Red Sox at Fenway Park last season, however, after allowing just two runs and fanning six over six innings. He'll be followed by Gavin Floyd in the nightcap, with the talented righty aiming to continue his prior success against Boston. The former first-round draft choice owns a 3-0 record with a 3.94 ERA over five career encounters (four starts) with the Red Sox and is 1-0 with a 2.13 ERA in two previous trips to the Fenway Park mound. Floyd is just 9-11 for the season, but has pitched well in each of his past two assignments. After delivering seven innings of two-run ball to beat Baltimore on August 24, the 27-year-old held the Yankees to two runs over 6 2/3 frames in a tough 2-1 defeat last Sunday. John Lackey gets the call for Boston in tonight's second tilt and will likely be awaiting this homestand to get underway. Nine of the free-agent addition's 12 wins in 2010 have come at Fenway Park, and he's emerged victorious in each of his last two starts at the historic venue. In his most recent home appearance, Lackey struck out a season-best 10 batters and allowed three runs (two earned) and just six hits over eight strong innings in an August 23 win over Seattle. The veteran righty wasn't nearly as sharp this past Sunday in St. Petersburg, where he was reached for five runs and nine hits in 6 1/3 frames to take a costly loss against Tampa Bay. Lackey, who's 9-3 with a 4.60 ERA in 14 Fenway starts this year, has a 3-5 record with a 4.06 ERA in 13 lifetime games against the White Sox. Today's doubleheader marks the first meetings between these teams this season. The Red Sox and White Sox split eight contests in 2009, with Boston taking three of the four held at Fenway Park.
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Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana Should be in: Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it? Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel. Work left to do: Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third. Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim. Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either. Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim. For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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