A National disgrace in Washington

Baseball Betting Lines

07/09/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In the National League East, four of the five teams in the division can still see the top of the standings, save for the Washington Nationals.

The Nats now have the worst record in all of baseball (34-57) and while Florida and the Mets are within 1 1/2 games of the first-place Phillies and Atlanta is just five games out despite a rough 10-game stretch, Washington can barely get out of its own way these days. On Tuesday night the Nationals opened a three-game homestand with Arizona by failing to score a single run for the second time in the last four outings. The 2-0 setback dropped Washington to just 1-3 on the season versus the Diamondbacks and 2-9 against the club over the last two years.

Since sweeping each three-game series at home against Arizona in both 2005 and 2006, the Nats are still waiting for their next home win versus the D'Backs. Washington, which currently owns the longest losing streak in the NL (six games) and has dropped eight of the last 10 overall, has been shut out an astounding 11 times already this season. In each of the past two seasons the Nationals have bounced back from having losing months in March/April, May and June by playing above .500 in July, but with a 1-6 start to the month the team is destined to give their dismal 9-18 mark of 2005 a run for their money.

With a nine-game road trip on the horizon after the 79th All-Star Game next week, the outlook doesn't appear too promising for the Nationals. Although, heading into the Midsummer Classic, Washington does catch Houston at home for three games and the team has managed to take 10 of the last 18 meetings with the Astros since the beginning of the 2006 campaign.

CRISTIAN BLESSED WITH ALL-STAR SELECTION

Needing to find a representative from the Washington Nationals for the All- Star Game in New York next week, the National League opted to choose Cristian Guzman. The shortstop seems like the only sensible choice given that he's played in all but three games for the Nats and leads the club in quite a number of statistical categories.

A nine-year veteran who was initially drafted by the New York Yankees in 1995 but never represented the Bronx Bombers in the majors, Guzman already has more hits this season (119) than he's had in any of the previous three. Guzman leads the team in both doubles (25) and runs scored (50), the latter more than double the total of all but just three of his teammates at the moment.

Although he had his 14-game hit streak snapped on Tuesday night in the loss to Arizona, Guzman, who has knocked in just a total of five runs since June 13, still ranks as one of the team leaders in RBI. However, that stat (29 RBI) tends to be misleading because the two men ahead of him, Lastings Milledge (32 RBI) and Jesus Flores (30) have both played far fewer games than Guzman.

This is the second time in his career that Guzman has been invited to the All- Star game, first earning a spot on the 2001 American League roster when he was a member of the Minnesota Twins. In his only All-Star at-bat at Safeco Field seven years ago, Guzman struck out.

WHO'S HOT

Since coming off the disabled list last week, Austin Kearns has accounted for six hits in 19 at-bats. Similarly, Dmitri Young has also generated six hits in the last five games for the team and now has 32 hits in his last 32 games with the club. In addition, Young has added to his on-base percentage in the last week with a total of seven walks.

WHO'S NOT

The Nationals as a whole have been in a hitting slump the last six games, batting a collective .212 with just one home run and a total of nine extra- base hits. The lone long ball was sent out by Elijah Dukes, the outfielder adding a pair of doubles during the stretch as well. However, the team will have to try and make up for his production now due to the fact that he's been sent to the DL with torn cartilage and a partially torn tendon in his right knee. Willie Harris, who has started four of the last six games for the Nats, has just three hits in his last 20 at-bats.

ON DECK

The Nationals play the second of a three-game set against Arizona Wednesday night at home, sending John Lannan (4-9) to the hill to counter Micah Owings (6-7). Thursday night finds Jason Bergmann (1-6) trying to dig himself out of a miserable hole this season, as he sets up against Dan Haren (8-5) for the Diamondbacks. Houston comes to town on Friday night for three straight heading into the All-Star Break, with the Nationals throwing Tim Redding (6-3) at Roy Oswalt (7-8).

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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MySportsbook.com refunds all bets on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay from NFL week one.

(September 14) – Week one of NFL action saw three teams go scoreless for the first time since 1977.  Another four were unable to get a touchdown and almost half of the underdogs covered the spread. Those three teams saved bettors at MySportsbook.com from losing out completely, thanks to the company’s unique NFL Shutout Rule -- which ensures that if the team you backed goes scoreless, your wager is refunded.

Sportsbook refunded tens of thousands of dollars to customers who bet on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay, the three teams that stunk up the field so badly that their fans and backers never had a chance to get up from their couches and cheer.  In the spirit of the low scoring start to the season, odds makers at the world’s largest online sportsbook and casino have set odds on how many total shutouts there will be this season. 

MySportsbook.com has posted updated sports betting lines for week two of the season.  Ben Roethlisberger’s health status is still questionable, so Willie Parker will try to lead Pittsburgh again as they travel to Jacksonville as a one point favorite.  After beating up on his little brother last week, Peyton Manning will look to lead the Colts to victory against Houston. Indianapolis is a whopping 13.5 favorite in the match-up.

Seattle, last year’s highest scoring team, showed the power of their defense with their gritty 9-6 win in Motown over the ravenous Lions.  They take their act back home to the comforts of Qwest Field where they will face the resurgent Arizona Cardinals.  The Seahawks are favored by a touchdown. 

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