Greinke hopes to slow down White Sox

Baseball Betting Lines

07/03/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There haven't been many pitchers who have slowed down the Chicago White Sox as of late, but Zack Greinke has shown in the past to be quite capable of such a task.

The Kansas City Royals ace will take the mound in tonight's second test of a four-game series with the visiting White Sox, who will be out to extend their season-best winning streak to seven games.

Chicago maintained its recent high level of play by besting the Royals by a 4-1 count in Thursday's opener of this set. The win was the 13th in the last 17 contests for the White Sox, who have closed within 2 1/2 games of Detroit for first place in the American League Central.

Mark Buehrle (8-2) was the difference for Chicago in last night's triumph, as the steady southpaw took a shutout into the ninth inning and yielded just one run on six hits before exiting after 8 1/3 frames.

"I had everything working," Buehrle said. "I changed my sinker grip in the bullpen. The last two or three games [catcher A.J. Pierzynski] says it's been cutting, but not sinking. So I put my fingers closer together and it was one of the best sinkers I've had in a while."

Jayson Nix went 2-for-4 with a solo home run for the White Sox, while Jim Thome also collected a pair of hits and scored once in the victory.

David DeJesus spoiled Buehrle's shutout bid with a one-out double in the bottom of the ninth. Royals starter Bruce Chen (0-2) worked six solid innings in a losing cause, with the journeyman allowing just two runs on five hits and striking out five.

Kansas City, losers of three in a row and 11 of its last 15 games, will turn to Greinke to lift the team out of its rut. The standout right-hander has usually come through when called upon, as his 10-3 record and major league- best 1.95 earned run average will attest. He's been especially dominant at home, having amassed a 6-1 record with an outstanding 1.78 ERA in nine trips to the Kauffman Stadium mound.

The White Sox are well aware of Greinke's talents. The 25-year-old has faced Chicago three times already this season and has surrendered a mere four runs -- three earned -- and 17 hits in 22 innings over those outings, winning twice and receiving a no-decision in the other. In a May 4 matchup with the Sox at Kauffman Stadium, he racked up 10 strikeouts while firing a six-hit shutout.

Greinke comes in having won his last two starts as well. After tossing eight innings of one-run ball to down Houston on June 23, he limited Pittsburgh to two runs over 6 2/3 frames in a 3-2 decision at PNC Park this past Sunday.

The former first-round pick is 5-8 with a 4.20 ERA in 20 lifetime appearances (17 starts) against Chicago.

Greinke's counterpart this evening, John Danks, is on a nice roll of his own. The White Sox lefty has pitched at least seven innings and given up three runs or fewer in each of last four starts, although he's just 2-2 over that span due to a lack of run support.

Danks didn't need much help from his offense in Sunday's clash with the rival Cubs, as he allowed only four hits over seven shutout innings to lead the White Sox to a 6-0 victory over the Northsiders. The win evened his season record to 6-6 and lowered his ERA to a respectable 4.08.

The 24-year-old is 1-0 with a 3.25 ERA over six career starts against the Royals, but struggled in a visit to Kauffman Stadium back on May 31. Danks was reached for four runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings that day and came away with a no-decision.

Chicago has won four of six matchups with the Royals held in Kansas City so far this season and swept a three-game set at Kauffman Stadium from May 29-31. Additionally, the White Sox enter this evening's tilt having won 12 of their last 15 overall road games.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Super Bowl XLIII, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.

The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.

The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.

Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.

MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:

Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)

Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)

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