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**StarDust Bum** · 09-26-2010, 09:01 AM

CFL betting: Toronto hosts Edmonton

The Edmonton Eskimos will attempt to register their first road win on this CFL betting season when they travel to Toronto on Sunday afternoon to take on the Argonauts at Rogers Centre.

Edmonton, currently mired in a three-game losing streak, suffered a 31-14 loss to Montreal as a 13-point road underdog in its most recent outing. The combined 45 points stayed ‘under' the 52 ½ point closing total. The loss dropped the Eskimos to 2-9 straight up and 3-8 against the spread.

The road has been especially rough on Edmonton this year, evidenced by its 0-5 SU and 1-4 ATS away from home.

Top CFL Betting Action at BetUS.com

Toronto's season has been up and down. The Argonauts are coming off a 17-13 win over Winnipeg as a one-point home favorite. The combined 30 points dipped well ‘under' the 51-point closing CFL betting total.

The win raised Toronto's record to 6-5 both SU and ATS. The club is currently tied with Hamilton for second place in the East Division standings, placing it squarely in the playoff picture.

Toronto has been tough to beat at home, going 4-1 both SU and ATS.

These two teams met in Week 6, with the Argonauts squeaking out a 29-28 victory as a six-point road underdog. The combined 57 points flew ‘over' the 51-point closing total.

Toronto running back Cory Boyd had three touchdown runs, including one in the final minute to pull out the come-from-behind win. Boyd had 164 yards on 25 carries. Argos' QB Cleo Lemon completed 23-of 34 pass attempts for 292 yards and one TD, while Eskimo QB Ricky Ray went 24-of 35 for 272 yards and one TD.

Scoring has not been a strong suit for either of these teams, as they are both ranked at the bottom of the league in total points. Toronto is ranked seventh with 237 points, while Edmonton is eighth with 201.

Top Toronto vs. Edmond Betting Action at BetUS.com

The Argos are a bit better defensively, ranking fifth with an average of 26.6 points allowed. The Eskimos are dead last in this category, allowing an average of 33.8 points per game.

BetUS.com opened Toronto as a three-point home favorite, with the ‘over/under' set at 49 1/2. The Argonauts are 6-4 SU in their last 10 meetings against Edmonton and 5-2-1 in the last eight series football matchups. The total has gone ‘over' in three of the last five games.

**StarDust Bum** · 09-26-2010, 09:01 AM

MLB Betting: Yanks still need wins

The New York Yankees apparently don't want the American League East title. The Yankees still needed only a combination of wins and Boston Red Sox losses adding up to three to clinch a playoff berth as play began Saturday.

But New York's hopes of winning the division and securing the substantial edge of home field advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs grow dimmer by the day.

New York manager Joe Girardi calls on retread Dustin Moseley (4-3, 4.94) Sunday night when his Yankees play their final home game of the regular season against the Red Sox. They are counting on Moseley to pull them out of a tailspin that threatens to undo all the fine work they did over the first 151 games of the season

Moseley, who has been mediocre most of the season, has been tapped to make a spot start in place of Phil Hughes, who is being skipped due to his innings limits.

New York is 5-3 in Moseley's eight starts this season. The defending champs have scored 49 runs in the five wins and a grand total of six in the three losses.

Despite injuries that ended the seasons of all-stars Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis and other starters, Terry Francona's Red Sox were 17 games over .500 entering Saturday's game.

It was clear months ago that the Red Sox were undermanned compared with the Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays. However, the Red Sox have avoided long losing streaks, which suggests that the team still fights.

Fans tuning in Sunday night to watch this game on ESPN shouldn't expect a pitcher's duel.

Daisuke Matsuzaka (9-6, 4.86) has allowed four earned runs or more in his last seven starts, and in eight of his last nine. In four September outings, Matsuzaka is 1-2 with an 8.34 ERA. However, in 13 road starts this year he is 5-2 with a 4.62 ERA.

The Boston right-hander has faced the Yankees once this season (May 17) and was on the wrong end of an 11-9 score in the Bronx. He was torched for nine hits and seven earned runs in 4 2/3 innings.

Boston is 1-5 in Matsuzaka's last six starts against New York. However, the Red Sox are 11-4 in his last 15 starts versus a team with a winning record and 25-10 in his past 35 road outings.

Veteran arbiter Phil Cuzzi will be behind the plate for the series finale. The Yankees have won six in a row with Cuzzi calling the balls and strikes. In addition, the ‘under' is 8-2-3 in his last 13 assignments behind the dish.

**StarDust Bum** · 09-26-2010, 09:02 AM

MLB Odds: Reds, Padres in playoff preview?

The Cincinnati Reds and San Diego Padres conclude a three-game series Sunday from Petco Park in a possible postseason preview. The Reds, with a commanding lead in the National League Central standings, will participate in the playoffs for the first time since 1995.

Things are not as cut and dry for the Padres entering the final week of the regular season. San Diego finds itself just a half-game behind San Francisco in the NL West standings entering the weekend, and a half-game ahead of Atlanta for the wild-card slot.

Cincinnati's Homer Bailey (3-3, 4.73 ERA) enters this matchup having recorded three consecutive no decisions. He is searching for his first victory since an August 20 triumph over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The four-year veteran faced Milwaukee Monday, tossing six innings while surrendering two runs on six hits with three walks and seven strikeouts on 114 pitches.

The Reds eventually won that contest as a 102 road selection, 5-2. The combined seven runs failed to topple the 8 ½-run closing total, helping the ‘under' improve to 6-2 in his previous eight outings.

Bailey helped Cincinnati beat the Padres April 25 as a 108 home favorite, 5-4. The righty went six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits (one home run) with a walk and eight strikeouts. The combined nine runs landed directly on the closing total.

The Reds, 41-38 away from home, follow this matchup with a six-game homestand against Houston and Milwaukee to conclude the regular season. Cincinnati has gone a dismal 3-9 its last 12 road outings, while the ‘over' is 5-2-2 the past nine.

San Diego southpaw Clayton Richard (13-8, 3.53 ERA) snapped a personal three-game losing skid Tuesday by blanking the Dodgers 6-0 as a 117 road underdog. The Michigan product went the complete-game route by scattering eight hits with two walks and six strikeouts on 105 pitches.

The six runs failed to eclipse the seven-run closing total, helping the ‘under' improve to 7-1 in his last eight starts. That triumph marked his first career shutout, inducing 14 ground-ball outs that included three double plays.

Richard was the opposing pitcher in that April 25 contest versus Bailey and the Reds. Richard was reached for three runs on seven hits (one home run) with four walks and a strikeout over 5 1/3 innings and 97 pitches.

San Diego, 43-32 at Petco Park, continues its seven-game homestand after this matchup with four games against Chicago. The Padres conclude the regular season with a three-game road trip against San Francisco that will determine the NL West champion. San Diego has seen the ‘under' go 10-3-1 in its last 14 home games.

Sunday's home-plate umpire will be veteran Dana Demuth, who has seen the ‘under' go an unspectacular 17-15 during his 32 games behind the dish. There has been an average of 8.5 runs in those matchups, with 5.7 walks and 14.5 strikeouts.

Sunday's weather forecast for San Diego, California calls for sunny skies, with a high of 81 degrees and a low of 63.

**StarDust Bum** · 09-26-2010, 09:04 AM

Preview: Red Sox (88-68) at Yankees (92-63)

Game: 3
Venue: Yankee Stadium
Date: September 26, 2010 8:05 PM EDT

The New York Yankees' four-game losing streak hasn't just hurt their chances of winning the AL East - it may be giving their archrival renewed faith in its remote wild card hopes.

The Boston Red Sox would move within 4 1/2 games of New York if they complete their first three-game sweep at Yankee Stadium since 2004 on Sunday night.

The Yankees (92-63) have slipped behind first-place Tampa Bay in the division during their second four-game skid of September, and they may begin to feel some pressure from Boston in the wild-card race if they lose a fifth consecutive game for the first time all season.

The reigning World Series champions' magic number is three to clinch their 15th playoff berth in 16 years, but they'd certainly prefer to eliminate the Red Sox before the teams' three-game set at Fenway Park next weekend.

"We're still in a good spot," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We have seven games left to play, and our club needs to win three games. If you had said that Feb. 15th, all of us would have signed up for it."

The Red Sox (86-68) won 10-8 in the series opener Friday night, then used seven shutout innings from Jon Lester to win 7-3 on Saturday.

Although Boston swept a two-game set in the Bronx on May 4-5, 2009, it hasn't swept a three-game series at New York since April 23-25, 2004 - the year the franchise ended an 86-year championship drought.

Manager Terry Francona's club isn't quite ready to give up on 2010 despite missing Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis and Jacoby Ellsbury for most of the second half.

"We've got a chance," Lester said. "Weirder things have happened in baseball."

David Ortiz is doing his best to help, having posted three consecutive multi-hit games. He also had two RBIs Saturday, leaving him two short of his first 100-RBI season since 2007.

Third baseman Adrian Beltre is one RBI short of that milestone, which he hasn't reached since 2004.

The Red Sox may need support from both sluggers if Daisuke Matsuzaka (9-6, 4.86 ERA) can't improve on his recent performances Sunday.

The right-hander has allowed at least four earned runs in each of his last seven starts, going 1-3 with a 6.91 ERA in that stretch. He also has a 6.31 ERA in eight career starts against the Yankees.

Boston, however, may have a chance to score some runs against New York's Dustin Moseley (4-3, 4.94). The right-hander will start in place of Phil Hughes, whose innings count is being closely monitored by the Yankees.

Moseley has posted a 5.09 ERA in eight starts, although one of his best came against Boston on Aug. 8 when he pitched 6 1-3 innings in a 7-2 win.

Considering the pitching matchup, a slugfest similar to Friday's wouldn't be a surprise.

While Lester quieted the Yankees on Saturday, Alex Rodriguez and Curtis Granderson both homered off Boston's bullpen. Rodriguez has three homers in this series, leaving him two shy of his 13th consecutive 30-homer season, while Granderson has six homers and 15 RBIs in his last 10 games.

Rodriguez is 2 for 19 against Matsuzaka, but Granderson has gone 6 for 11 with a homer in the matchup.

"We need somebody to go out and shut the door on the other team," Rodriguez said.

**Spark** · 09-26-2010, 09:25 AM

Good Luck bum

**Kaptain** · 09-26-2010, 11:16 AM

gl BUM....thanks....kick ass my friend

**jt4545** · 09-26-2010, 12:11 PM

Thanks bum and good luck

**Dat Boi E** · 09-26-2010, 12:15 PM

good luck today, Bum!

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