Devil Rays, Yanks set to play two in the Bronx

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07/21/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Already 18 1/2 games out of contention in the American League East and just 10-17 versus division foes, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays try to follow up their impressive effort on Friday as they play two versus the New York Yankees in the Bronx on Saturday.

The stars aligned for the Devil Rays on Friday night as they thrashed New York in a 14-4 decision in the opener of a four-game set. Dioner Navarro punched his first career grand slam and B.J. Upton posted his first career multi-homer game in the lopsided decision.

Even more impressive was the fact that Tampa Bay starting pitcher Edwin Jackson picked the Yankees to record his first road win in nearly four seasons. Jackson shut out the Yankees over six innings, giving up only four hits and walking four, while striking out four for the visitors. The victory was just the second of the season overall for Jackson, who last won on the road in September of 2003.

While Jackson was showing signs of life for the visitors, Mike Mussina was continuing to struggle as he suffered his seventh loss, against just four wins this season. Mussina was touched for six runs on seven hits over 4 2/3 innings. The meeting was supposed to work in favor of Mussina, who entered the game a perfect 7-0 versus the Rays in Yankee Stadium, but it just wasn't meant to be.

Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano and Andy Phillips each had a pair of hits for New York, while Bobby Abreu offset those efforts with three strikeouts in five at- bats. Johnny Damon snapped the longest hitless drought of his career (0- for-20) with a single, while Hideki Matsui had his hitting streak snapped at 14 games.

Heading out to the hill for the Devil Rays in the first game of today's doubleheader will be youngster Jason Hammel, who began his career with six straight losses before earning his first-ever victory at the major league level earlier this season versus Arizona.

Unfortunately, that win in relief is still the lone victory in his career at this point as he gets ready to start his first game of 2007. Last weekend he faced the Yankees for the second time in three days, retiring just a single batter before heading to the dugout.

The Treasure Valley Community College product has thrown a total of just 61 2/3 innings in his major league career, resulting in a lofty 7.30 ERA.

The second game of the day will see left-hander J.P. Howell take the hill for the Rays, getting the call up from Triple-A Durham. Howell, now in his third year of major league experience, last threw at this level on July 5 versus Boston at Fenway Park, where he was battered for six runs in a mere 2/3 innings of action.

Howell as a career mark of 1-0 versus the Yankees but is still just 5-11 overall.

Left-hander Kei Igawa stands to see action today for the Yankees, yet another youngster who is in his first year of major league play. Igawa, who turned 28 just over a week ago, has not won a game since the end of April. Since then he has appeared in five contests, the most recent being a 6-4 victory over Toronto on Monday. In that game the lefty surrendered three runs on seven hits, two of which were home runs, and walked four while striking out seven in five innings of work.

In his only other appearance against Tampa Bay this season, Igawa was touched for seven runs on eight hits over 4 1/3 innings back in April.

Later in the day, rookie hurler Matt DeSalvo gets his first-ever look at the Devil Rays in the second game trying to improve upon his 1-3 record.

DeSalvo, a 26-year old from the Keystone State, last pitched in the majors back on May 28 versus Toronto on the road, allowing three runs on five hits and three walks over 4 2/3 innings.

Over the last seven games Alex Rodriguez, who leads the AL in both home runs (32) and RBI (92), has knocked in five and scored five times, but is hitting a mere .185 during that span for the Yankees. Abreu is tied for the team-lead with seven knocked in over the last week, despite hitting a paltry .167 for the club, currently eight games behind Boston for first place in the division.

Over the last six games Upton has 11 hits and eight runs scored for Tampa Bay, both team highs, while Carlos Pena has knocked in 11 on just eight hits, six of which have gone for extra bases.

In the three previous seasons the Yankees have gone 20-8 against Tampa Bay at home, posting a perfect 10-0 mark in 2004, but this season NY has already dropped two of three meetings to the Devil Rays in the Bronx and are just 4-5 versus today's visitors overall.

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Colts give the ‘D’ its due

The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.

They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.

"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."

Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.

New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.

Not so sound on the ground

If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com

“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.

Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.

Brees says bring it on

Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.

Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.

Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.

"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."

SportsBooks ready for a shootout

Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.

“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”

New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.

The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.

“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

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