Re-loaded Angels to begin series with Red Sox

Baseball Betting Lines

07/26/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In danger of falling out of the race for the American League West crown, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim made a big and bold move in acquiring ace pitcher Dan Haren on Sunday.

While it is unknown when Haren can contribute on the field, Los Angeles will hope his acquisition will provide a different kind of lift when the club begins a three-game series versus the Boston Red Sox tonight at Angel Stadium.

Shortly before Sunday's finale of a four-game finale with division-rival Texas, Los Angeles acquired Haren from Arizona for pitcher Joe Saunders and three prospects, one to be named later. Haren gives the Angels a solid 1-2 punch in the rotation along with Jered Weaver, and the move can be viewed as Los Angeles' counter of the Rangers getting former Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee.

The Angels, though, dropped a 6-4 decision on the field and lost three of four to the first-place Rangers to fall seven games back of first place. Los Angeles has also lost five of its last seven overall.

"They did what they had to do," Angels outfielder Torii Hunter said of Texas. "We came to their house and they held it down."

Hunter and Hideki Matsui each homered in the loss, while Trevor Bell gave up four runs over just 3 1/3 innings in his first start of the season.

Haren, who grew up in California, was scheduled to start on Tuesday for Arizona, but it is unknown when he will make his Angels debut. What is known is that Joel Pineiro will take the hill tonight for Los Angeles and will be looking to rebound after having a string of seven straight winning decisions end last time out.

The 31-year-old righty was beaten by the Yankees on Wednesday, giving up six runs on 11 hits over six innings. Pineiro fell to 10-7 with a 4.18 earned run average on the season, but is an excellent 7-2 with a 2.37 ERA in 11 home starts.

Pineiro lost to the Red Sox, 3-1, on May 5 even though he allowed just two runs over six innings. He fell to 3-6 lifetime versus them with a 5.94 ERA in 11 starts.

Boston will send out a 10-game winner of its own in Clay Buchholz, who makes his second start since returning from a strained left hamstring suffered on June 26.

The right-hander won seven of eight starts before his injury, but was dealt a loss in his return on Wednesday after getting hammered for five runs on six hits and three walks over just four innings of work versus Oakland. Buchholz fell to 10-5 with a 2.81 ERA on the season.

Buchholz, who is 5-2 with a 2.53 ERA in eight road starts this year, recorded a win over the Angels on May 3 despite yielding four runs and eight hits over 5 2/3 innings. He got plenty of support in a 17-8 win and is 2-2 with a 6.35 ERA in his career versus Los Angeles.

While the Angels were able to acquire Haren prior to this Saturday's non- waiver trade deadline, the Red Sox are set to get back their prize pickup before last year's deadline, catcher Victor Martinez.

Martinez has been out since suffering a fractured left thumb on June 27 and is hitting .289 with nine homers and 38 RBI in 66 games.

"I actually think he's probably going to be ready," Red Sox manager Terry Francona told his team's website before Sunday's game versus Seattle. "It seems kind of silly to make the decision [Sunday]. He's going to catch some more guys and if he comes in and says, 'Hey, I'm hurting,' we're not going to do it. I think all things point to him being ready to go."

The Red Sox could use Martinez, given that they have scored just five runs in their last three games. They dropped a 4-2 decision to Seattle on Sunday, their fourth loss in six games.

Kevin Youkilis and Adrian Beltre each knocked in a run for the Red Sox, who won the first two tests of the four-game set before dropping the last two. Boston is now 3-4 on a 10-game road trip and eight games back of first-place New York in the AL East. It also trails Tampa Bay by five games for the Wild Card spot.

The Red Sox swept a four-game home set over the Angels from May 3-6, but have lost seven of their last nine at Anaheim.

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Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year

Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.

Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.

With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.

Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.

Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.

Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to bet on the NBA. With the regular season about to hit the homestretch, it is important to point out that MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

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