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Thursday's betting tips: Dodgers are beasts when out East
Weather watch
Thunderstorms are in the forecast for St. Louis, where the Cardinals host the Diamondbacks. There’s a 64 percent chance of rain for Thursday.
Who’s hot?
Cincinnati Reds: The Red have won five in a row heading into the series finale with the Mets Thursday.
Who’s not?
Texas Rangers: The Rangers have dropped three straight outings – all to the Yankees – heading into Thursday’s series finale.
Game of the day
Tampa Bay Rays at Los Angeles Angels (+109, 7.5)
Injury that shouldn’t be ignored
Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys: The Cowboys Pro-Bowl tight end could miss the first part of the NFL season after suffering a serious injury to his spleen. Witten led Dallas in receptions last season and has been Tomy Romo’s safety blanket since he took over the starting job in 2006. The Cowboys are 3.5-point underdogs versus the Giants in Week 1.
Notable quotable
"I didn't want to get in, because I was so scared of KG yelling at me if I messed up. I would sit on the sideline. I might not even get in the whole practice, because I didn't want KG to yell at me." -- Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley about being afraid of teammate Kevin Garnett.
Betting news and notes
-- Week 3 of the preseason is the closest NFL teams get to a true regular season game. But because the Cleveland Browns play the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 3 of the preseason and then again two weeks later in Week 1, they will be treating Week 2’s meeting with the Green Bay Packers as their full dress rehearsal as to not tip their hand versus the Eagles.
-- The WNBA is back from the Olympic break Thursday, but the Seattle Storm will have to wait two more games before getting MVP center Lauren Jackson back. Jackson took the first half of the season off to focus on the Olympic and won’t return to the team until next Tuesday’s game versus No. 1 Minnesota. Seattle is a 8.5-point home fave against Phoenix, which returns star Diana Taurasi who also sat out the first half of the season.
-- The Dodgers are 12-1 when playing in the Eastern time zone this season. Los Angeles is a +121 underdog in Pittsburgh Thursday.
-- New York hasn't been swept in Cincinnati since the season-opening series in 2005. The Mets are +136 underdogs in Cincy Thursday.
-- Kansas City has gone 17-8 in one-run games since losing its first five of the season. The Royals are -114 faves hosting Oakland Thursday.
Weather watch
Thunderstorms are in the forecast for St. Louis, where the Cardinals host the Diamondbacks. There’s a 64 percent chance of rain for Thursday.
Who’s hot?
Cincinnati Reds: The Red have won five in a row heading into the series finale with the Mets Thursday.
Who’s not?
Texas Rangers: The Rangers have dropped three straight outings – all to the Yankees – heading into Thursday’s series finale.
Game of the day
Tampa Bay Rays at Los Angeles Angels (+109, 7.5)
Injury that shouldn’t be ignored
Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys: The Cowboys Pro-Bowl tight end could miss the first part of the NFL season after suffering a serious injury to his spleen. Witten led Dallas in receptions last season and has been Tomy Romo’s safety blanket since he took over the starting job in 2006. The Cowboys are 3.5-point underdogs versus the Giants in Week 1.
Notable quotable
"I didn't want to get in, because I was so scared of KG yelling at me if I messed up. I would sit on the sideline. I might not even get in the whole practice, because I didn't want KG to yell at me." -- Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley about being afraid of teammate Kevin Garnett.
Betting news and notes
-- Week 3 of the preseason is the closest NFL teams get to a true regular season game. But because the Cleveland Browns play the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 3 of the preseason and then again two weeks later in Week 1, they will be treating Week 2’s meeting with the Green Bay Packers as their full dress rehearsal as to not tip their hand versus the Eagles.
-- The WNBA is back from the Olympic break Thursday, but the Seattle Storm will have to wait two more games before getting MVP center Lauren Jackson back. Jackson took the first half of the season off to focus on the Olympic and won’t return to the team until next Tuesday’s game versus No. 1 Minnesota. Seattle is a 8.5-point home fave against Phoenix, which returns star Diana Taurasi who also sat out the first half of the season.
-- The Dodgers are 12-1 when playing in the Eastern time zone this season. Los Angeles is a +121 underdog in Pittsburgh Thursday.
-- New York hasn't been swept in Cincinnati since the season-opening series in 2005. The Mets are +136 underdogs in Cincy Thursday.
-- Kansas City has gone 17-8 in one-run games since losing its first five of the season. The Royals are -114 faves hosting Oakland Thursday.
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