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07/01/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Blue Jays were left without an ace when they traded Roy Halladay this past offseason, but Shaun Marcum has wasted little time claiming ownership of the title.
Marcum will try to prevent his Toronto squad from getting swept in four games by Cleveland for the first time in nearly 25 years and deny the Indians a season-best fifth straight victory in this afternoon's finale at Progressive Field.
The right-handed Marcum missed all of 2009 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, but is 7-3 with a 3.14 earned run average in 16 starts so far this season. A 12-game winner in 2007, Marcum beat the Phillies with six innings of one-run ball, striking out six while improving to 2-0 over his last three starts with a 2.00 ERA.
"The pitch that was getting him strikeouts and groundouts when we needed it, or a fly ball, was his changeup," Toronto catcher John Buck told Toronto's website. "It was kind of just the equalizer that we could always go to. It was really dropping off the table well."
The 28-year-old has never beaten the Indians, going 0-2 with a 4.38 ERA in six games (four starts) against them.
Toronto hasn't beaten anybody since Marcum's last start as it dropped its finale with Philadelphia on Sunday before dropping the first three tests of this series, plating just a single run in two of them. The Blue Jays have now lost eight of their last 10 to fall eight games back of the Yankees for first place in the American League East.
Nick Green's RBI infield single in the seventh inning accounted for Toronto's only offense as Cleveland starter Aaron Laffey threw six-plus innings of one- run ball.
"It's just baseball. It's just the way it goes sometimes," said Jays manager Cito Gaston. "Last year, it was the other way around. This year, it seems to be that guys that are struggling, they seem to be up there with guys on base. That's just the way it is with baseball."
Toronto is hitting just .221 over its last 10 games, averaging just 2.8 runs per game in that span. The Blue Jays also haven't homered in three straight games for the first time this season.
"I was on a better page -- me and [catcher Carlos Santana]," Laffey said. "We did a great job of changing speeds and calling good pitches in good counts, and I was able to execute for the most part."
While the Blue Jays' bats are struggling, the Indians have a host of players riding hot streaks. Matt LaPorta homered for the second straight game in last night's victory, while Shin-Soo Choo connected on his fifth homer in eight games. Santana added two hits and an RBI, giving him a .345 average over his first 18 MLB games.
Cleveland, which lost 11 of 12 before its current four-game win streak, was swept at home by Toronto in early May, but tonight the Indians can sweep the Blue Jays in four games for the first time since doing so at home from Aug. 28-31, 1995.
For that to happen, they will need Justin Masterson to pitch better than he has as of late. The 25-year-old is 0-2 with a 7.00 ERA in his last three starts, including a loss to Cincinnati on Saturday in which he allowed six runs on six hits and four walks over five-plus innings.
Masterson fell to 2-7 on the season with a 5.21 ERA and will make his first career start versus the Blue Jays tonight. The right-hander has faced them seven times in relief, pitching to a 2.89 ERA over 9 1/3 total innings.
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In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.
Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.
Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.
Memphis vs. Ohio State
Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.
UCLA vs. Kansas
In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.
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