Indians, Royals hope to get out of the basement in series opener

Baseball Betting Lines

08/17/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Last place in the American League Central Division is up for grabs tonight, when the Cleveland Indians begin a six-game road trip with the first of three straight games against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

The Indians and Royals are both tied for last in the division with identical 49-69 records. Cleveland was able to salvage the finale of a three-game series versus Seattle with Sunday's 9-1 pounding of the Mariners in the finale of a three-game series to cap a nine-game homestand in which it went 3-6.

Justin Masterson threw six scoreless innings and Tony Sipp earned the win with a perfect ninth inning for Cleveland, which exploded for seven runs in the seventh inning thanks to Travis Hafner's grand slam. Jayson Nix also homered and Michael Brantley went 2-for-4 with a two-run blast, three RBI and a pair of runs scored.

"They are young and we're going to be up and down offensively," Indians manager Manny Acta said of the team's youth. "That seventh inning, guys put together some quality at bats."

Rookie Jeanmar Gomez looks to get some offensive support when he takes the mound Tuesday. He is 3-0 with a 1.54 earned run average over his first four major league starts and is coming off last Thursday's 4-1 win over Baltimore. He allowed one run on six hits over six innings with three K's.

The young righty has only made one away start this season and that was at Toronto on August 1, when he pitched five innings of two-run ball. Gomez will face the Royals for the first time tonight.

Kansas City is set to begin a six-game homestand versus the Indians and White Sox, and earned a split of a four-game series with the New York Yankees this weekend. After losing two of the first three portions of the lengthy set, the Royals recorded a 1-0 win Sunday behind eight shutout innings from former No. 1 pick Bryan Bullington.

Bullington scattered two hits, struck out five and issued only one walk for his first career victory, while All-Star closer Joakim Soria shut the door in the ninth for his 33rd save.

"This is a good day, that's for sure. It was a lot of fun. A long time coming, but I really enjoyed it," Bullington said of his first win.

Billy Butler drove in the only run of the game in the first inning for the Royals, who won for the second time in their previous eight contests.

Hoping to keep the winning ways intact will be Zack Greinke, who is scheduled to make his 24th start of the season today. Greinke did not record a decision his last time out in a 2-1 loss at the Angels, despite hurling eight strong innings of one-run ball. He allowed six hits and struck out six batters.

Greinke, last year's AL Cy Young Award winner, has alternated wins and losses over his past six decisions. The righty is 5-5 in 12 home starts and beat Cleveland at Kauffman Stadium back on May 13 this season in a 6-4 triumph. He fired six innings of three-run ball that day and is 7-8 with a 3.52 earned run average in 24 career games (19 starts) against Cleveland.

Cleveland took two of three meetings from the Royals at Kauffman Stadium earlier in the season, but the Royals responded with a sweep of a two-game set from May 19-20.

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.