Tigers, Scherzer open set with Indians

Baseball Betting Lines

07/16/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Max Scherzer goes after his fifth straight winning decision this evening when the Detroit Tigers start the second half of their season in the first test of a four-game set against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field.

Scherzer won his final two starts before the break and is 4-0 in his last five outings. Over his last four starts spanning 27 2/3 innings, Scherzer has allowed just three runs. He was magnificent against the Baltimore Orioles on July 7, holding the O's to a run and six hits in seven innings to even his record at 6-6, while lowering his earned run average to 4.61.

The 25-year-old right-hander lost to Cleveland back on May 9 in his only other start against the Tribe, yielding five runs and nine hits in five innings of a 7-4 setback.

Detroit had its five-game winning streak stopped on the final day before the break, and with that fell a half-game back of the Chicago White Sox for the top spot in the American League Central. The deficit jumped to a full game after the White Sox's victory on Thursday.

Of course, the Tigers held a 3 1/2-game edge on the White Sox at last year's break, but stumbled in the second half before ultimately falling to Minnesota in a one-game playoff to decide the Central.

If the Tigers are in fact going to win their first division title in 23 years they will have to be better in the second half on the road, where they were just 16-25 before the break.

"It's pretty simple really," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "We are going to have to do better in our division and better on the road in the second half if we are going to stay in it."

Detroit gets a chance to improve upon that mark tonight in a place where they have had a lot of success in recent years. The Tigers split a two-game set in Cleveland in May, but they are 8-3 there since the start of last season, while going 20-6 overall in the last 26 meetings.

First baseman Miguel Cabrera may have been the American League's best player in the first half, as the All-Star entered the break tied for the league lead in average at .342 and had the most RBI with 77. His 22 home runs were also two off the pace of Toronto's Jose Bautista for the league lead.

Hoping to slow down Cabrera tonight will be righty Jake Westbrook, who is 5-5 on the year with a 4.75 ERA. Westbrook lost his final start before the break on July 8 to Tampa Bay, giving up five runs and eight hits in six innings.

Westbrook, though, defeated the Tigers the last time he faced them, allowing just a run in 7 2/3 innings back on June 1. He is 5-8 lifetime against them with a 5.69 ERA in 22 games (19 starts).

Nobody could have used the All-Star break more than the Indians, who had played 20 straight games to finish the first half. Cleveland, of course, is in the midst of a rebuilding year and currently sits 34-54, 16 games back of the White Sox.

Cleveland, which lost five of six before the break, has endured a ton of injuries with the likes Grady Sizemore, Shin-Soo Choo and Asdrubal Cabrera all sidelined. While Sizemore is done for the year, Choo and Cabrera are nearing a return.

However, those injuries have paved the way for players like Carlos Santana to come to the forefront. Santana hit .284 with five home runs and 16 RBI in 29 games since being recalled.

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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.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.

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