Red Sox, White Sox to begin set with double dip

Baseball Betting Lines

09/04/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- After mother nature delayed the opening of this important weekend set, the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox will renew acquaintances with a day-night doubleheader that begins this afternoon from Fenway Park.

The arrival of Hurricane Earl to the New England region forced the postponement of last night's scheduled opener of this three-game series, which in turn pushed back the anticipated return of former Red Sox star Manny Ramirez to Fenway Park in a Chicago uniform.

Ramirez, who spent eight memorable seasons with the Red Sox and played a big part in the franchise's World Series title-runs in both 2004 and 2007, was claimed off waivers by Chicago from the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday and made his White Sox debut in the club's 6-4 victory over Cleveland on Wednesday. The 12-time All-Star was traded to Boston to the Dodgers midway through the 2008 campaign following a sequence of conflicts with the Red Sox organization over various matters.

The 38-year-old slugger went 1-for-3 with a strikeout in his first game with the White Sox and is batting .312 with eight homers and 40 RBI during an injury-plagued season. Ramirez will be playing in Fenway for the second time with the opposing team since his acrimonious departure two years ago, having done so with the Dodgers between June 18-20. He went 5-for-12 with a home run over the course of that three-game set.

Chicago trailed 4-1 after seven innings in Wednesday's contest before scoring four times in the eighth to forge ahead, with Paul Konerko's three-run homer off Justin Germano giving the White Sox a 5-4 advantage. Alexei Ramirez hit a solo homer earlier in the frame to begin the comeback.

Tony Pena (4-2) was credited with the win after throwing three innings in relief of starter Freddy Garcia, who was removed after the bottom of the fourth due to back spasms. Rookie Chris Sale picked up his first career save with a scoreless ninth.

Alexei Ramirez knocked in two runs on the day and Alex Rios also homered for Chicago, which swept the three-game set with the Indians and stands four games back of Minnesota for first place in the American League Central.

"It's nice, it's needed," Konerko said of the sweep. "Minnesota you always have to assume is going to win their games. The only time we can control what they're going to do is when we play them. We just have to assume they're going to win."

The White Sox will face a tough test in the opener, with Boston sending Cy Young Award candidate Clay Buchholz to the hill today. The All-Star hurler sports a 15-5 record along with a stellar 2.21 earned run average -- tops in the majors at the moment -- and enters this outing carrying a seven-start unbeaten streak.

Buchholz is 5-0 with a 1.07 ERA during that undefeated stretch and has permitted one run or less in all but one of those appearances. The right- hander was stuck with a no-decision in Boston's 3-2 loss at Tampa Bay last Saturday, but still held the Rays to two runs -- one earned -- and just four hits over 7 1/3 effective innings.

The 26-year-old, who hasn't taken a loss since July 21 at Oakland, has not fared well in previous matchups with the White Sox, however. Buchholz was pounded for seven runs in just 4 2/3 innings by Chicago last season at Fenway Park, and surrendered five runs and seven hits over three frames in a setback at U.S. Cellular Field back in 2008.

Boston returns home after going 3-3 on a six-game road trip through Tampa Bay and Baltimore, closing out the swing with a pair of victories over the lowly Orioles. The Red Sox scored five second-inning runs en route to a 6-4 triumph in last night's finale, with David Ortiz's two-RBI single highlighting the uprising.

"We got after them early," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "David's two- out hit was huge."

Adrian Beltre had a solo homer and Ryan Kalish added an RBI double during the big second inning, while Daisuke Matsuzaka (9-4) pitched into the bottom of the sixth to notch his ninth win of the season. The Japanese star was touched for four runs over 5 2/3 frames, but struck out six while walking just one batter.

Jonathan Papelbon ran into some trouble in the ninth, allowing two Baltimore runners to reach base with one out, but the Boston closer settled down to strike out the game's final two hitters and record his 35th save.

The Red Sox enter today's play seven games behind Tampa Bay for the lead in the AL Wild Card standings and will take their swings in game one off John Danks. The Chicago lefty will be seeking to rebound from a poor performance against the New York Yankees in his most recent start, when he was battered for eight runs and served up three homers in just 4 1/3 innings versus the Bronx Bombers on August 28.

Danks also hasn't had much luck when taking on the Red Sox in the past, having compiled a 1-4 record and a 5.08 ERA over five lifetime starts in this series. He did best the Red Sox at Fenway Park last season, however, after allowing just two runs and fanning six over six innings.

He'll be followed by Gavin Floyd in the nightcap, with the talented righty aiming to continue his prior success against Boston. The former first-round draft choice owns a 3-0 record with a 3.94 ERA over five career encounters (four starts) with the Red Sox and is 1-0 with a 2.13 ERA in two previous trips to the Fenway Park mound.

Floyd is just 9-11 for the season, but has pitched well in each of his past two assignments. After delivering seven innings of two-run ball to beat Baltimore on August 24, the 27-year-old held the Yankees to two runs over 6 2/3 frames in a tough 2-1 defeat last Sunday.

John Lackey gets the call for Boston in tonight's second tilt and will likely be awaiting this homestand to get underway. Nine of the free-agent addition's 12 wins in 2010 have come at Fenway Park, and he's emerged victorious in each of his last two starts at the historic venue.

In his most recent home appearance, Lackey struck out a season-best 10 batters and allowed three runs (two earned) and just six hits over eight strong innings in an August 23 win over Seattle. The veteran righty wasn't nearly as sharp this past Sunday in St. Petersburg, where he was reached for five runs and nine hits in 6 1/3 frames to take a costly loss against Tampa Bay.

Lackey, who's 9-3 with a 4.60 ERA in 14 Fenway starts this year, has a 3-5 record with a 4.06 ERA in 13 lifetime games against the White Sox.

Today's doubleheader marks the first meetings between these teams this season. The Red Sox and White Sox split eight contests in 2009, with Boston taking three of the four held at Fenway Park.

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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

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