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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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com

For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com

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