Sports Betting Blog

Last year the American league Central was a battle until about the month of July or so. That’s when the Cleveland Indians put it all together and started winning games in bunches. In the process they bypassed the Detroit Tigers and ended up winning the division with realtive ease. In short, the Indians caught fire, no other team in the division did the same so Cleveland won the division easily.

Now it looks like the same thing might be happening all over again. The Indians are taking off while the rest of the divisin is playing .500 ball. If the Twins, White Sox, Royals, and Tigers aren’t careful they might just get buried in the wake from the Indians.

The amazing thing about the Indians is that they aren’t hitting the ball at all and yet they’re still in first place. Of course that’s because their pitching has been absolutely amazing. In fact, the Indians have now shutout the Oakland A’s two straight games. So all they need is a couple runs and they can put the win in the books. And I bet it won’t be long until their bats come around - there’s just too much talent in the lineup. So the 3-0 and 2-1 wins we’re seeing will turn into 8-0 and 6-2 wins.

Meanwhile, as long as we’re in the AL Central, our routine Gary Sheffield checkup still has him being a dog. He grounded into an inning killing double play and if not for a bobble at third base, he would’ve grounded into another one. As Miguel Cabrera begins to show signs of life and get on base, Sheffiled quickly kills all Cabrera’s work by doing nothing and worse than nothing at the plate. He’s moved from 3rd to 6th in the lineup. He’s tried left field. What’s next? It better be letting him go. Come on Detroit, any Triple A player can strikeout or ground into a double play.

Anyway, back to good baseball. The Diamondbacks look to be back on track. They are putting a hurting on the Colorado Rockies and they are back to playing solid ball. Yes, they are playing the hapless Rockies but this weekend they welcome the even more hapless Tigers. So things are looking up for Arizona.

It’s official. Hell has frozen over.

The Tampa Bay Rays are in first place. Maybe now baseball fans all across the world will realize that the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are now simply the Tampa Bay Rays - they’ve dropped the “Devil”. Maybe now fans will realize that Tampa Bay has a team.

For years Tampa Bay has played in front of a handful of fans as they wallowed in the basement of the American league East. They were nothing more than a whipping bag for the American league East powerhouses - the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. It was like having a bye series every so often in the season. Teams loved to go down to Florida and enjoy the warm weather and a sweep of the Devil Rays - excuse me, the Rays.

Not anymore.

Suddenly the Rays have won six straight games and stormed to the front of the AL East. They are a game and a half in front of the Boston Red Sox and they took that lead by beating the New York Yankees. Things are going so well for the Rays than Yankees little owner, Georget Steinbrenner Jr (or whatever), said the Yankees have to play more like the Rays. Geez, just writing that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand-up. Do we need any other signs that the apocolypse is upon us? I don’t think so.

But what is it that makes the Rays so good? Sure, they have solid pitching. Sure they have young talent that has a passion for the game (are you listening Tigers - that’s real passion not passion you try to trump up in a meeting room), and they seem to get hits when they need them. But could it be that it’s the name change? Could it be that dropping the name of Satan from their team has allowed them to embrace purer being and thus grab more wins?

Heck, in a sports world where copycats are everywhere, I think we might see a few more teams change their name if the Rays win it all this year. Could the Boston Red Sox become just the Boston Sox - the color red can be associated with evil. Could the Kansas City Royals become the Roys? And maybe the Arizona Diamondbacks will just become the Arizona Diamonds? And how do the Angles expect to win anything with a team name that’s something like 8 words. Come on. They’re doomed.

And I know, you say it’s ridiculous that any other teams would change their name and/or shorten it, but after seeing the Rays in first, I know that anything is possible.

Racing de Santander need a win here to end an historic season for the Cantabrian club. They have never entered a European competition but they have Mallorca just a point behind so they can’t afford to relax in this last match against Osasuna, who have their own motivation to win this game.
Racing’s recent form hasn’t been too good; they have lost four out of their last seven matches and have allowed Sevilla to go above them in the table. This drip in play could well be the result of the atmosphere surrounding the club at the moment, as coach Marcelino’s future is in serious doubt and he is very likely to be poached by a bigger club come August, Sevilla being the his probable destination. Racing have also been plagued by injuries, and the loss of Garay with knee ligament damage came at just the wrong time.
For Osasuna it is make or break time. They are currently hovering just one point above the relegation zone, and if Zaragoza beat Mallorca they will be relegated unless they can secure the three points here. This will result in a dramatic final match of the season and the outcome is far from easy to predict.
Earlier on in the season Racing de Santander beat Osasuna at their Reyno de Navarra stadium by two goals to nil, and the Cantabrian side haven’t lost an encounter with Osasuna in five games. The outcome of this match will depend in large part on who wants to win more, or who needs to win more, and that is Osasuna. Racing have had an amazing season, but they do seem to have run out of steam. Racing will have to make do without striker Munitis due to suspension and this will be a big blow for Marcelino’s side, while Osasuna coach Ziganda will need to make adjustments owing to the injuries to Ludovic Delporte, Xavier Margairaz and Walter Pandiani.
I’m going for an Osasuna win here. They haven’t had the best of seasons, but there is a lot of grit in this side and I doubt if they are going to be relegated this year.
Prediction: Away win (1-2)

Mallorca are still on cloud nine after their win over Barcelona at the Nou Camp last weekend when Güiza scored the winner in the ninety-third minute. The ex-Getafe striker is currently the top scorer in the league with twenty six goals, two more than Sevilla’s Luis Fabiano. This is almost certainly his last game for Mallorca, as a whole host of top clubs are now after him, most notably Valencia, who are looking to rebuild their squad after their disasterous season.
For Zaragoza this game signals a make or break ninety minutes. Defeat here will see them (rather undeservedly) relegated to the second tier of Spanish football, and the likes of Diego Milito, Oliviera, Aimar, Sergio Garcia and Fabio Ayala will all be free to move. It won’t be an easy game for them, either. Mallorca go into this match on the back of five consecutive wins, and could even pip Racing de Santander for the last qualifying place of the UEFA cup. Zaragoza have lost just once in the last six games, but then have only won two in the same period. They will take some hope from their last game, though. They drew two goals apiece at home to Real Madrid, who had already attained the league title and were perhaps a little relaxed. Zaragoza’s real problem though is their away form this season. They have won just once away from their Romareda stadium, when a Diego Milito goal gave them a one nil victory over Almeria back in October. The Argentinean striker is not having the best of seasons, and hasn’t scored since the two goal to one win over Atlético Madrid at the beginning of march.
Zaragoza certainly have more to lose than Mallorca, and I can see them winning here in a very dramatic game, but with lots of suffering though. They already have two plane loads to supporters who will travel to cheer on the Zaragoza players, which will be a boost for the squad.
Prediction: Away win (0-1)

Well Valencia managed to scrape a victory over Zaragoza and then last weekend beat already relegated Levante by five goals to one, which means that they no longer have to fear being relegated. How a team as big as Valencia can allow themselves to get in such a predicament though is anyone’s guess, and there will have to be an enormous rebuilding job during the summer. Valencia though have serious financial problems, and it has already been made known that David Villa, David Silva and Joaquin will be sold off once the league is finished.
Atlético Madrid on the other hand are already celebrating getting back into the Champions league after an eleven year absence. Coach Javier Aguirre has been criticized all season, even by his own president, but it looks as if he will be carrying on the new project come September. This last game of the season is a mere formality then, and Atlético Madrid are only playing for the faint hope of finishing third if Barcelona lose to Murcia.
Valencia’s fans will be given one last chance to vent their spleen this season, and even though the club will show off the King’s cup they recently won in the final against Getafe, I doubt if the fans will be too bothered by it. They have had to suffer a lot more than any of the big teams this year, and the best Valencia can do now is finish ninth, almost thirty points behind title winners Real Madrid. The only truly good thing to come out of Valencia’s season is entrance to the UEFA cup due to the King’s cup victory, but even that is of little consolation after months of bad play, internal struggles and players rebelling.
I’m going for an away win here. Valencia just want the season to end in order to start the rebuilding process, and I shouldn’t wonder if caretaker coach Voro will leave out a few key players. Albelda, Vicente, and Marchena haven’t trained due to various physical problems, and it is more than likely that they won’t pull on the Valencia shirt again.
Prediction: Away win (1-3)

Don’t look now, but very soon the Tampa Bay Rays could be leading the American league East. In fact, it could be in just a few hours.

The Rays won their fifth straight game on Monday while the division leading (for now) Boston Red Sox lost once again. The Rays throttled the New York Yankees by a score of 7-1. That means Tampa is now only a half game out of first. And yes, we are only a quarter of the way through the season but I don’t think anyone expected the Rays to even be sniffing .500 right now. And here they are knocking on the door for first place.

Apparently dropping the “Devil” part from their name has helped a lot. Perhaps not having the red, horned man on their team has proved lucky for them or maybe just getting the weight of an extra few letters off their jerseys has made them faster. Whatever the reason, the Rays are playing great baseball.

In all honesty, a lot of credit has to go to this young ball club and Boston better take them seriously. If the Rays win tonight and Boston loses then the Rays would be alone in first place.

And the New York Yankees would continue to struggle. The Yankees have kinda flown undere the radar so far this season. But at some point there under .500 ball has to be noticed. And the bad thing for them is that they really don’t have the pitching to be all that much better.

But the good news for the Yanks is that they’re without two of their best players - Jorge Posada and Alex Rodriguez - and when they get those guys back they can make a run.

But if the Rays keep playing great baseball even a run by the Yankees might not be enough. Of course, the Red Sox will be able to keep in contact with the Rays and that will allow Boston to catch and pass them by sometime this summer. At least that’s what I think will happen. But then again, I never thought the Rays would be playing like their playing and sitting on the verge of first place in the AL East.