Kubel's two homers power Twins over Yankees

Baseball Betting Lines

05/28/2010 - Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Kubel slugged a pair of home runs and drove in five while Nick Blackburn worked effectively over seven innings, as the Twins avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of the Yankees with an 8-2 win at Target Field.

The combination of Kubel and Blackburn (6-1) again proved to be the right elixir for Minnesota's struggles against New York. The Yankees' lone loss to the Twins over the last two seasons came back on May 16 at Yankee Stadium when Kubel belted a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning off Mariano Rivera and Blackburn hurled seven strong innings in the eventual 6-3 triumph.

On Thursday, Blackburn limited New York to two runs on nine hits and did not issue a walk, while Kubel added an RBI double and scored three times. Justin Morneau went 2-for-2 with a walk and an RBI for Minnesota, which notched only its second win in the series in the last 15 meetings -- including a New York sweep of last year's AL Divisional matchup.

"It's always good to scratch out any wins against these guys. We lost a couple close games (this series), and we have the last two years. It's a good way to end the series," Blackburn said.

Javier Vazquez (3-5) labored through 5 2/3 innings, giving up five runs on eight hits and three walks while reaching 112 pitches. Robinson Cano knocked in both Yankee runs with a double and a single.

New York had posted one-run victories in each of the first two matchups after dropping five of six coming into this set.

"We won two games, I don't want to overlook that. We beat a very good Minnesota team two out of three," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi.

The Twins had dropped three in a row and six of their last eight tilts as the game got underway, but got to Vazquez for an early 3-0 edge.

The Twins manufactured a first-inning run when Orlando Hudson worked a one-out walk, took third on a Joe Mauer single and scored on Morneau's sacrifice fly.

Michael Cuddyer led off the second frame with a double into the gap in right center and Kubel followed suit to make it 2-0. J.J. Hardy then singled to put runners at the corners and Alexi Casilla brought in Kubel with a double- play ball.

Blackburn, meanwhile, retired seven in a row beginning with a double-play ball off the bat of Alex Rodriguez to end the first. Brett Gardner began the fourth with a base hit, moved up on an error and crossed home on Cano's single to center.

Hudson tripled leading off the home fifth and later scored on a Jim Thome sacrifice fly. New York countered in the sixth on doubles by Mark Teixeira and Cano for a 4-2 game.

Kubel took care of the rest, though, extending the lead to three with a leadoff blast deep to right-center in the bottom half.

"I left a couple of hangers to Kubel. The first couple of innings my command wasn't there," remarked Vazquez.

With two out in the seventh, Kubel lined a 3-2 fastball just over a set of overhanging seats in right field for a three-run homer to cap a nine- pitch at-bat against Chad Gaudin.

The Twins cruised from there behind scoreless innings from relievers Jose Mijares and Alex Burnett.

Game Notes

Blackburn has won each of his five starts this month and lasted at least seven innings in each. The right-hander also improved to 4-0 in five trips to the Target Field mound this season...Vazquez had delivered six brilliant innings to defeat the crosstown-rival Mets last Friday at Citi Field after a disappointing start to 2010. His earned-run average stands at 6.86 through eight starts and one relief appearance...Cano continues to rake for the Yanks with a .342 average and 30 runs batted in through his first 47 games...Morneau did well to lift his major league-leading average to .377...Gaudin made his first appearance for the Yankees after signing as a free agent on Wednesday. He was released by Oakland late last week. The righty fanned three, walked one and allowed a run on two hits over 1 2/3 innings of Thursday's setback.

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NFL ODDSTop Football Betting Free Agents to Change Teams

NFL Betting

It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.

We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.

Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.

Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.

Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.

NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.

The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

NFL Wagering

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.

Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament odds  
As of February 9, MySportsbook.com has released its coveted 2007 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament betting odds. “March Madness betting ” only a month away, the top ranked Florida Gators are favorite at 7-2 to win it all. The defending champs have not disappointed at all this season and currently have a 22-2 record and are undefeated (9-0) in SEC play. The Gators’ thrive off of their extremely balanced, experienced and versatile attack. All five starters started in last seasons National Championship game. What is most impressive with this group is their balance; the five starters all average between 10.7 and 13.6 PPG. The Gators have been on an absolute roll having won 15 straight by an average of 16.4 PPG.

Right behind the Gators are the 5th ranked UNC Tar Heels at 9-2. The Heels (21-3, 7-2) are absolutely loaded with top notch talent and are as deep as any team in the country. A concern for the Tar Heels might be inexperience. Of their top four scorers/ minute earners, three are freshmen and the other is a sophomore. The rest of the regular season, the Tar Heels play only one team that is currently ranked (Duke). Their remaining opponents do combine for an impressive 107-58 record though.

Other teams that the MySportsbook.com members seem to believe will win it all include the west coasts’ top team #2 UCLA (6-1), #3 OSU behind man-child Greg Oden (8-1), and #4 Wisconsin (10-1) behind their defense which has given up 70+ points only three times all season.

Below is a list of some of the favorites to win the 2007 Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship lines. For the full list of teams and March Madness odds be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com. If you want to use your credit card to bet on college hoops or any other event, MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

Arizona 20-1

Butler 20-1

Duke 30-1

Florida 7-2

Georgetown 30-1

Indiana 35-1

Kansas 15-1

Marquette 25-1

Maryland 40-1

Memphis 50-1

Nevada 50-1

UNC 9-2

OSU 8-1

Oregon 30-1

Pittsburgh 15-1

Texas 30-1

Texas A&M 18-1

UCLA 6-1

Wisconsin 10-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook betting needs.