Beckett returns for BoSox in Seattle

Baseball Betting Lines

07/23/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox could use a boost on their current road trip and will get just that tonight when the ballclub is expected to activate ace Josh Beckett from the disabled list.

Beckett hasn't pitched since May 18 at Yankee Stadium because of a nagging lower back injury and will make his ninth start of the season in the second portion of a four-game series against the Seattle Mariners. With plenty of rest and a few rehab assignments for Triple-A Pawtucket, the Red Sox feel Beckett is ready to face major league hitters.

The right-hander and 2003 World Series MVP is 1-1 with a 7.29 earned run average this season and did not figure into the decision of a 7-6 win over New York back in mid-May. Beckett was bothered by his back and lasted just 4 2/3 frames, allowing five runs -- three earned -- and five hits. In four road starts this season, Beckett is 1-0 and the Red Sox are 3-1 in those games.

In five career starts against Seattle, Beckett is 4-1 with a 3.15 earned run average. Beckett, signed to a $68 million extension in April, previously faced the Mariners in a 5-3 win at Safeco Field on May 16, 2009, when he gave up three runs, two earned, and four hits in seven innings.

Boston just hopes Beckett can come out of this game healthy and pitch the club back into the playoff race. John Lackey came within four outs of a no-hitter in last night's 8-6 win in 13 innings at Safeco Field and allowed one unearned run on two hits with six strikeouts in eight frames. Manny Delcarmen blew the lead in the ninth by allowing four runs -- three earned -- and two hits.

The Mariners rallied to tie the score at 6-6 with five runs in the ninth, but Eric Patterson stroked a two-run double in the top of the 13th to put the Red Sox ahead for good. Bill Hall and J.D. Drew both hit two-run homers and Marco Scutaro belted a solo shot for the Red Sox, who won for the third time in eight contests and is 2-2 on a 10-game road trip.

"Sometimes the game will do it to you," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "You're up, you're down. You try not to get that way because if you do, as frustrating as the ninth was, you end up losing. We can't do that. We've got to find a way to win and we did."

Kevin Youkilis finished with three hits in the win and scored the go-ahead run in the 13th inning. Boston will also visit the LA Angels of Anaheim on the trek and is seven games behind the New York Yankees for the AL East lead. It is four games behind Tampa Bay in the Wild Card standings.

Seattle had a ninth inning to remember last night, plating five runs to knot the score at six apiece. Franklin Gutierrez started the rally with a two-run homer and later Casey Kotchman doubled home Jose Lopez. After Jack Wilson grounded into a fielder's choice to plate Milton Bradley, Ryan Langerhans, who was pinch running for Kotchman, scored the tying run on Hall's throwing error.

Boston reliever Ramon Ramirez posted his second save with a 1-2-3 ninth in the bottom of the 13th inning. Ryan Rowland-Smith started for Seattle and was reached for five runs and eight hits in six innings, while Garrett Olson suffered the loss for allowing two runs over two innings of work.

"I am awfully proud of the way we battled," Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu said on the team's website. "We came off a walk-off [Wednesday night against the White Sox], and to be in a situation to do it back-to-back nights doesn't happen very often. To let it go is heartbreaking."

The Mariners, who are 4-15 this month, will turn to Jason Vargas tonight and he is 0-2 with a 4.13 earned run average in his last four starts. Vargas hasn't posted a decision in consecutive trips to the hill and last pitched in Sunday's 2-1 road win against the LA Angels of Anaheim.

Vargas had an excellent day on the mound, as he held the Halos to a run and four hits with nine K's over 7 2/3 innings. He has allowed just one run in each of his last two starts, throwing at seven innings in each appearance.

The left-hander, who is 5-1 in 10 home starts, will face Boston for the first time this season and second time in his career. In a 3-2 win over the Red Sox on May 17 last season, Vargas did not figure into the decision after giving up two runs -- one earned -- on seven hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings.

The Red Sox and Mariners are meeting for the first time since Seattle won four of six matchups a year ago. Boston, however, is 8-4 in the past 12 contests in this series.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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