Athletics open series with hosting Mariners

Baseball Betting Lines

08/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There's still over a month of baseball left and nobody knows that more than the Oakland Athletics.

The A's are still alive in the playoff hunt and will hit the road for six games starting with Monday's opener of a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field. At 7 1/2 games behind Texas for the AL West lead, the Athletics enter this series having won two straight and four of their last six games.

After losing the opener of a three-game set versus the Rangers, Oakland bounced back with back-to-back wins and is fresh off Sunday's 3-2 triumph at the Coliseum. Coco Crisp's RBI double and Kurt Suzuki's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh inning put the A's ahead for good, while starting pitcher Trevor Cahill pushed his record to 12-4 with eight strong innings. He allowed two unearned runs and six hits, and struck out just three.

"If I'm not going to strike guys out, I've got to go deep into games," Cahill told the team's website. "I think that's kind of what I didn't do last year, get ahead of a lot of guys. This year I'm able to get ahead of them and go deeper into games and save the bullpen."

Oakland is just 22-30 on the road this season and will rest its hopes on young starter Vin Mazzaro tonight in the Emerald City. Mazzaro is 4-1 in his last five decisions and did not factor in the outcome of a 3-2 loss versus Kansas City last Tuesday. He gave up two runs -- one earned -- and five hits in six innings to remain at 6-3 in 15 games (12 starts) this season.

Mazzaro, who is 4-2 on the road, faced the Mariners for the first time on August 24 last season and took the loss for allowing all three runs in five innings of his team's 3-1 setback.

Seattle took two of three meetings from Kansas City over the weekend and won for just the third time in its last 13 games with Sunday's 3-2 victory over the Royals at Safeco Field.

Casey Kotchman had a pair of runs batted in and Chone Figgins finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run score for the Mariners, who got six innings of one-run ball out of starter Jason Vargas. Vargas struck out three and walked three.

"I threw a lot more fastballs today, a little bit different than normal, pitched in a lot and got ahead early. I was happy with how I threw the ball," Vargas said.

David Aardsma earned his 20th save of the season despite yielding a home run to Alex Gordon in the ninth. The Mariners won a series for the first time since taking two of three against the New York Yankees from June 29-July 1.

Seattle hopes to get this series off on the right foot, but that's asking a lot especially with Doug Fister expected to take the mound tonight. Fister is winless (0-7) over his last 11 starts to go along with a 5.65 ERA and previously toed the rubber in last Wednesday's 11-6 loss versus Texas in which he was rocked for seven runs and eight hits over 4 2/3 innings.

The right-hander fell to 3-8 in 18 starts this season and raised his ERA to 3.98 with his latest performance. Fister is 1-1 in two starts against Oakland this season and 2-1 with a 1.50 ERA in four career starts in this series.

Oakland is 6-3 against Seattle this season, but the Mariners own a 17-11 ledger in the past 28 meetings between the two clubs.

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NCAA Football Betting

Many fans thought it was the best side in the nation by the end of last season. This year, the polls have built on Georgia's momentum and granted it the No. 1 preseason ranking, followed by Ohio State and USC. (The Associated Press has the Buckeyes at No. 2; USA Today took the Trojans.)

"To have people believing we have one of the best teams in the nation going into this thing, it's exciting for us," Bulldogs coach Mark Richt told the AP. "I don't think anything is guaranteed, but we certainly have put ourselves in position where at least the college football world thinks we're pretty good."

Georgia Bulldogs - 9.5 wins

There's no question they're good, but the Bulldogs have one of the toughest 12-game schedules in the nation, mostly because they play in the powerhouse Southeastern Conference. Away games at No. 15 Arizona State, No. 7 LSU and No. 10 Auburn loom large, with contests between the hedges versus No. 24 Alabama and No. 18 Tennessee as well as the World's Largest Cocktail Party in Jacksonville versus No.5 Florida.

Ohio State Buckeyes - 10 wins

Like the Bulldogs, the Buckeyes also have a number of tough road contests in 2008. After two scrimmages dressed up as real games versus Youngstown State and Ohio, it's off to face USC. Other tough away games include No.13 Wisconsin in October and No. 20 Illinois in November. Granted, it should be pretty easy sledding at the Horseshoe. In fact, the only ranked team that travels to Columbus is No. 22 Penn State, in October.

USC Trojans - 10.5 wins

A similarly light schedule awaits the Trojans of Southern California, which is why the oddsmakers' total is one win more and the over is currently commanding -150 odds. Pete Carroll's troops only play three ranked teams in 2008, and all of those games are at home. After what should be an easy trip to Virginia to start things off on Aug. 30, the Trojans get two weeks to prepare for Ohio State in Los Angeles. Their two other ranked opponents, No. 21 Oregon and No. 15 Arizona State, visit in consecutive weeks to start the month of October. After that, the competition eases up. Of course, this is the same highly-touted school that lost to Stanford in 2007 and Oregon State in 2006. And don't discount the fact that USC plays its biggest rivals, Notre Dame and UCLA, back-to-back to close out the regular season. On paper, the Trojans are far superior, but motivation will be high for the Irish and Bruins, especially if their historic foes are in national-title contention.

Odds to Win the Heisman Trophy

Tim Tebow, Florida - 7/2
He won it last year, so it's no surprise he's the favorite to do it again, making him just the second player to go back-to-back. Ohio State's Archie Griffin turned the trick in 1974 and 1975, and Tebow's coach, Urban Meyer, is pretty sure his star quarterback can match the Buckeyes legend.

"There has never been anyone quite like him," Meyer told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I am very lucky to be his coach."

Chris Wells, Ohio State - 5/1

The man they call "Beanie" was a star recruit out of high school, so it's not like nobody knew who the star tailback was before he rushed for 576 yards as a freshman in 2006 and 1,609 as a sophomore. But perhaps his finest moment came last year versus Michigan when he rumbled for 222 yards and two touchdowns in the Buckeyes' 14-3 victory over the hated Wolverines.

Knowshon Moreno, Georgia - 8/1

If the Bulldogs are to live up to expectations, they'll need a huge effort from their sophomore running back. This might be the last year of college ball for Moreno, who rushed for 1,334 yards and for 14 touchdowns as a freshman, while adding 253 receiving yards on 20 receptions, so expect big things for the man from Belford, N.J.

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