Twins seek to sweep Tigers out of Minnesota

Baseball Betting Lines

09/02/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The American League Central-leading Minnesota Twins will continue their homestand tonight and try for a second sweep of the Detroit Tigers this season in the finale of a three-game series at Target Field.

The Twins have won five of their last six games and kicked off their nine-game residency by taking the first two portions of this set with the division-rival Tigers. They won Tuesday's series opener by a 4-3 score, then squeezed out a 2-1 win in 10 innings last night on Danny Valencia's game-winning single that plated Michael Cuddyer.

Cuddyer singled off of Tigers reliever Ryan Perry to start the inning, stole second after Delmon Young went down swinging and crossed the plate on Valencia's ensuing base hit to center.

"Great feeling. My first walk-off hit in pro baseball. It was nice to come in a situation like this," said Valencia. "We are in a pennant race. There are some teams that are right behind us."

Minnesota remained four games ahead of Chicago for the AL Central lead. The White Sox defeated Cleveland yesterday afternoon. Jose Morales was credited with an RBI in the fifth inning to get the Twins on the board, while starter Francisco Liriano struck out seven over seven shutout innings. Jon Rauch got the win for tossing a scoreless 10th inning. Liriano entered the game with a 6-0 mark and a 2.47 ERA since the All-Star break.

Scott Baker has an unbeaten streak of his own and will take the ball Thursday for the Twins. Baker is 5-0 with a 3.02 earned run average in his last seven starts -- all Minnesota wins -- and pitched in last Friday's 6-3 victory at Seattle. He allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings and struck out four, improving to 12-9 overall in 26 starts this season.

The right-hander is 1-0 in two starts against Detroit this season and 6-4 with a 4.55 ERA in 19 career starts in this series. Baker will also try to improve on his 8-3 record in 13 home starts tonight.

Detroit is fading from the playoff picture and sits 12 games behind Minnesota in the Central standings and 17 games off the wild card lead. It is 2-4 so far on a 10-game road trip after Perry surrendered the game-winning hit in the bottom of the 10th inning.

Max Scherzer pitched nine innings and fanned nine batters in the no-decision for the Tigers, who were swept in three games by Minnesota on the road from May 3-5 at Target Field.

"It was great pitching performance by both guys. We had opportunities but we had a tough time with that," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland.

Jhonny Peralta had two hits and drove in the only run for Detroit in the eighth inning. Austin Jackson also finished with a pair of hits.

The Tigers will send All-Star pitcher Justin Verlander to the mound tonight with hopes of him salvaging this series. Verlander is 2-1 in his last three decisions, spanning four starts, and did not record a decision his last time out on Friday in Toronto.

Verlander struck out eight, allowed two runs and walked two batters over eight innings. He remained at 14-8 this season in 27 starts to go along with a 3.58 ERA. The right-hander is 1-1 in two starts against Minnesota this season and 6-7 with a 4.00 ERA over 16 starts for his career in this matchup.

Minnesota is 9-5 against Detroit this season, with a 7-1 mark as the host.

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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

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