Angels send Weaver to mound in finale with Royals

Baseball Betting Lines

06/03/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jered Weaver can get the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim back to .500 this afternoon when they go for a series win in the finale of their four-game series against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

Anaheim, which spent all of May below the break even mark, won for the fourth time in five tries on Wednesday, as Torii Hunter went 3-for-5 with a homer and drove in three runs, helping the Angels to a 7-2 win.

Scott Kazmir was charged with five hits and a run over 5 2/3 innings and won for just the second time in his last seven starts.

All the news was not good for the Angels, though, as outfielder Juan Rivera was forced to leave the game in the fifth inning after fouling a ball off his foot the inning before. X-Rays taken after the game were inconclusive and he is listed as day-to-day.

Kyle Davies (4-4) allowed eight hits and six runs over four-plus innings for the Royals, who lost for the fourth time in five games overall.

"I keyholed myself a little bit," Davies said. "I tried to be perfect the rest of the game and I never got in synch. Command never got to where it was supposed to be and they hit me pretty good."

David DeJesus had a pair of hits and drove in a run for Kansas City, which has lost 11 of its last 13 games against the Angels.

Weaver, meanwhile, is winless in his last four starts and comes into today's finale sporting a 4-2 mark to go along with a 3.01 ERA. Weaver allowed just an unearned run in seven innings in his last trip to the hill on Saturday against Seattle, but did not factor in the decision of his team's 5-1, 10-inning win.

The 27-year-old righty is 3-4 in seven starts against the Royals with a 3.35 ERA in seven starts.

Kansas City's hopes rest on the right arm of reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke, who has lost his last two starts and is just 1-6 on the year with a 3.39 ERA. Greinke pitched well in Boston on Saturday, surrendering a run and five hits in six innings, but his team could not muster a run in the 1-0 setback.

Greinke, who has allowed three runs or less in all but two of his 11 starts this season, is just 1-3 lifetime against the Angels with a 3.89 ERA in six games (five starts).

The Angels have dominated this series of late, having won 14 of their 17 most recent matchups with the Royals. They also have just three losses in their last 13 trips to Kansas City.

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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.