Daily Sports Roundup: July 14

Daily Sports Roundup: July 14

Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: Baseball finishes up its All-Star Break, while Calgary takes on Toronto on the gridiron, and the WNBA hits the floor with four games.

Meeting up on the diamond . . .

Major League Baseball has no games on its schedule for Wednesday as it finishes up its All-Star Break. There are seven games on the slate when action resumes Thursday.

Rounding out the Roundup . . .

The Canadian Football League kicks off its third week on Wednesday night with Calgary at Toronto. The Stampeders improved to 2-0 (2-0 ATS) on the season with a 23-22 road win over Hamilton on Saturday; Henry Burris threw for 257 yards for the Stamps in that win, while Joffrey Reynolds rushed for 98 yards. The Argonauts are 1-1 (1-1 ATS) on the season after slipping past Winnipeg 36-34 on the road in their game last Friday night. Cleo Lemon threw for 162 yards for Toronto in that victory, and Cory Boyd ran for 109 yards. Oddsmakers have Toronto as a 6-point underdog for Wednesday's matchup.

Finally, there are four games on tap in the WNBA on Wednesday, with San Antonio at Chicago, Atlanta at Minnesota, Seattle at Phoenix, and Connecticut at Indiana. The Sun (10-8 SU, 10-7-1 ATS) were beaten 108-103 by Atlanta in their last contest despite a 27-point, 20-rebound performance from Tina Charles. The Fever (11-6 SU, 10-7 ATS) are coming off an easy 100-72 win over Tulsa in their last matchup; Tamika Catchings was good for 24 points for Indiana in that game, while Katie Douglas poured in 17 points.

Wednesday's six-pack

Odds to win the national championship in college hoops this winter:

6-1-- Duke Blue Devils
8-1-- Michigan State Spartans
12-1-- Purdue Boilermakers
18-1-- Kentucky Wildcats
20-1-- North Carolina/Butler/Kansas State/Syracuse/Villanova
25-1-- West Virginia/Pitt/Memphis


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Wednesday's Armadillo's Den: Odds and ends from Las Vegas

13) If Alex Rodriguez wasn't healthy enough to pinch-run in ninth inning, why the hell was he on the roster? How do you run out of players in a nine-inning game, when you have a 34-man roster?

12) If the Bronx Bombers are planning on recruiting Carl Crawford as free agent this winter, they probably shouldn't bat him 9th in All-Star Game. Dude is hitting .321 with 11 HRs and is a veteran star. Not good.

11) Memo to FOX; on your graphics that show baserunners, making the runners yellow makes them show up a lot better. Not sure why this was changed, but the way they do it now (red) isn't good.

10) My dad is 84, loves baseball, but if a game starts at 8:50, he ain't up for the end of it. Can't they start the game at 8:20 or so?

9) Was surprised that the Home Run Derby didn't sell out; thought that had become a very hot ticket.

8) By the way, Joe Girardi's contract runs out in October; wonder if he makes the World Series but loses Game 7 (on the road) if tonight will get held against him in negotiations?

7) CFL's Toronto Argonauts did something last week I guarantee doesn't happen in the NFL this year; they had a 102-yard touchdown drive.

6) So Scott Boras thinks Prince Fielder is going to get more than $169M for 7 years (what Ryan Howard got)? Someone needs to tell Scumweasel Scott that out of 338 major leaguers with 100+ PA this year, Fielder is ranked 334th in % of runners driven in (19 of 264). Terrible.

OBI is RBI minus home runs hit. So a grand slam would be three OBI.

5) Speaking of that stat, Rafael Furcal (23.2%) leads big leagues, Mike Stanton is second (22.4%), Johnny Gomes third (22.3%). ARod is 6th, Manny Ramirez 11th, Miguel Cabrera 12th, Vladimir Guerrero is 14th and David Wright 15th, so its a pretty telling stat.

4) Leaders in number of men on base when a hitter bats: Teixeira/Howard are tied for big league lead (281), Evan Longoria (275) is next, then Billy Butler/James Loney (268). Guys at top of this list almost have to knock in 100+ runs; they always have lot of opportunities.

3) One guy that stood out, only because he hasn't been around so much, is Cleveland's young catcher Santana; he's driven in 11 of 52 runners, good for 21.2%, a strong number. Don't tell the Indians, or they'll trade him.

2) If they had all this stat analysis stuff when I was in school, probably never would have graduated. High school.

1) Was at the World Series of Poker today; saw Sammy Farha and Dan Harrington and Humberto Brenes. Amazing operation; picture an indoor football field, covered end-to-end with poker tables. All you hear is the clicking of poker chips, much like hearing the squeaking of sneakers on a basketball court. Now watching guys play cards ain't much fun, so didn't spend lot of time there, but it was great seeing how it is all set up.

Baseball's best and worst bets from the first half

At the midway point of the 2010 MLB campaign, there are some major surprises. Teams such as the Reds and Padres, labeled as longshots to start the year, are leading their respective divisions. Expected contenders like the Cubs and Brewers are south of .500.

We’re looking at the best and worst wagering hits from the first half of the MLB season.

Best Bet

San Diego Padres (+17.48 units)

Nobody gave the Friars a chance to do anything but finish at the bottom of the NL West this year. San Diego was slapped with 200/1 odds to win the World Series before the season kicked off and now that ratio has shrunk to 28/1.

It’s a good thing the Padres lead the league in pitching because their offense has not aided in this profitable 2010 season. San Diego ranks in the bottom third of baseball in runs scored and 25th in batting average (.250).

But the staff’s 3.25 ERA is the best in the bigs and the team’s 12 shutouts are good for the second-best mark. Pads hurlers boast the top WHIP rate at 1.23 and hold opponents to league-lows in average (.238) as well as on-base (.303) and slugging (.363) percentages.

Another winning component for San Diego has been a sound defensive effort. The Pads have committed the second-fewest errors in the league with 33.

Slugger Adrian Gonzalez is clearly not going anywhere and the Padres should be looking to land another bat before the trade deadline. Of the 88 games played this season, San Diego has only been favored in 33. This squad should continue to be undervalued by oddsmakers and as long as the pitching doesn’t falter, it will continue to turn a profit.

Worst Bet

Chicago Cubs (-21.90 units)

The Cubbies truly are a cursed team. The 2010 season for Chicago has been tainted by a dysfunctional clubhouse. Carlos Zambrano struggled, was demoted to the bullpen, returned to the starting rotation and then went Ron Artest on his teammates. Aramis Ramirez has been accused of quitting on the team. In short, Sweet Lou Piniella has had nothing sweet to sing about this year.

The heart of the Cubs problems comes from an offensive disappearing act. The team as a whole ranks 26th in runs scored and its .241 average with runners in scoring position is the second-worst mark in the Senior Circuit. Marlon Byrd is the only member of the team hitting over .300 while Chicago’s No. 3 and 4 hitters, Derrek Lee and Ramirez, have combined for a dismal .217 average, 19 home runs and 67 RBIs.

The third-highest MLB error total (69) has not made things any easier for the Cubs. The team is just 11-20 in one-run ballgames this year and costly fielding mistakes have contributed to that porous record.

Chicago was a 14/1 favorite to win the Fall Classic before the season started; it now holds odds of 150/1.

The Cubs are adored by the public which means they receive a lot of casual bettors’ money and the oddsmakers know it. Chicago has been listed as the underdog in only 30 of its 89 games. The North Siders finished last year 15.55 units in the red and they won’t end 2010 far off that number.

Best Over

Arizona Diamondbacks (53-34-2)

Take the worst team ERA in baseball (5.27) and combine that with the free-swinging lineup of the Diamondbacks and you’ve got the best over club in the big leagues.

Arizona has scored more than 400 runs this season and connected on 100 long balls. Arizona pitchers are allowing opposing teams to hit .281 against them and have yielded a league-high 117 home runs.

The Diamondbacks’ ace, Dan Haren, carries a bloated 4.36 ERA and the over/under record in his starts this season is 14-5. Chad Qualls and the back end of Arizona’s bullpen have been in shambles all season with 14 blown saves – the most in MLB. Opponents average more than a half run per inning against D-Backs’ pitching.

Arizona’s Chase Field produces the most runs per game in the majors at 10.8 and teams have played to the over in 29 of the 46 games played at the ballpark.

Best Under

St. Louis Cardinals (34-52-2)

A three-headed monster at the top of the rotation consisting of Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright and Jaime Garcia is the primary reason St. Louis has been such a profitable under wager. That trio holds a combined ERA of 2.52 and Garcia has a ridiculous 3-14 over/under mark in 17 starts as a rookie.

Yadier Molina is one of the best defensive backstops in baseball year in and year out. Molina and his pitching counterparts have kept opposing runners honest by allowing a league-low 26 steals this season. Unders become more common when a catcher can keep ducks off the pond.

The Red Birds finished last season with a 68-86-8 over/under record and oddsmakers failed to adjust the numbers during the first half of 2010.