A-Rod hopes for another milestone against Kyle Davies

Baseball Betting Lines

07/24/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez continues his quest to become the youngest player to 600 home runs this afternoon when the New York Yankees resume their four-game series with the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium.

On Saturday, Rodriguez is hoping history repeats itself, as he will face the pitcher who served up his 500th home run nearly three years ago in Kyle Davies.

"To me, it's another ballgame. I want to continue the path I've been on," Davies said. "If he hits 600, so be it. As long as we win the game."

Rodriguez should easily become the youngest player to reach the milestone. Babe Ruth hit his 600th at age 36, while Rodriguez does not turn 35 until July 27.

Ruth may have reached the milestone quicker, hitting No. 600 in his 6,921st at-bat, but Rodriguez's pace (8,646 at-bats entering play Saturday) trails only that of Barry Bonds (8,212) and eclipses Willie Mays (9,514) and Henry Aaron (10,009).

Davies, meanwhile, is looking for his first win since defeating Boston back on May 28. He has gone 0-3 in his last eight outings.

The last time the Georgia native was on the hill he allowed three runs on 10 hits in seven innings of work against Toronto. Kansas City eventually defeated the Blue Jays in that contest, 5-4, but Davies did not factor in the decision.

This will be the third career start for Davies against the Yankees and even though the veteran hurler is 1-0 in his previous two starts, he still possesses a lackluster 5.59 earned run average against the Bronx Bombers.

Last night, Robinson Cano went 2-for-4 with a three-run double in the first inning, as the New York Yankees roughed up the Kansas City Royals, 7-1, in the second installment of a four-game series. Brett Gardner added two hits and two RBI for the Yankees, who have won three in a row.

Rodriguez finished 2-for-4. While Rodriguez did not homer, there was a milestone, as Jorge Posada recorded the 1,000th RBI of his career.

A.J. Burnett (8-8) pitched five shutout innings before a lengthy rain delay forced both teams to change pitchers. Chad Gaudin allowed a run in three relief innings after the game resumed.

Royals starter Brian Bannister (7-9) gave up four runs on six hits and two walks in 4 2/3 innings and took the loss, Kansas City's ninth in its last 11 games.

Bannister entered the game with a 15.07 ERA in four career starts against the Yankees, and continued to struggle in the first inning.

The Yankees will turn to Sergio Mitre, who will be activated from the disabled list to start in place of the injured Andy Pettitte.

Mitre landed on the DL back on June 5th when he strained his oblique, but before suffering the injury the right-hander pulled double duty for the Yankees, working as a reliever and a starter. However, his last start came way back on May 16th.

Mitre has tossed just 11 1/3 innings in front of a home crowd this season and in that time he has surrendered four runs on seven hits, while walking four batters and striking out five.

Against the Royals in his career the California native has made just two appearance, but neither went well and in seven total innings against KC, the veteran hurler has surrendered six runs on 13 hits.

Thursday's victory improved the Yankees to 16-4 against the Royals at home since the start of the 2006 season. New York has won 27 of the 36 meetings between the clubs over that time period.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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