Marines, Blue Jays try to get offenses going at Rogers Centre

Baseball Betting Lines

07/22/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shut out for the fourth time this season, the Seattle Mariners try to bounce back this afternoon as they challenge the Toronto Blue Jays in the finale of a three-game set at the Rogers Centre.

On Saturday the Seattle offense fell silent in a pitchers duel that ended up 1-0 in favor of the Jays.

Josh Towers pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings for the home team, giving up just three hits while striking out four and walking two for the Blue Jays, who have won two of three after a three-game slide.

Toronto's bullpen closed out the game with 2 1/3 innings of hitless relief, with Jeremy Accardo getting the final two outs in the ninth for his 15th save of the campaign.

Aaron Hill plated the lone run of the game for the Blue Jays with an RBI single in the second inning.

Jeff Weaver was the hard-luck loser, dropping to a dismal 2-8 on the season, after pitching eight solid innings. The right-hander gave up just the one run on four hits with four strikeouts and no walks.

Jose Vidro hit a pair of singles for the Mariners, while Jose Lopez posted a single as well.

Setting up to take the hill for the visiting Mariners this afternoon in the Great White North is right-hander Felix Hernandez. The three-year veteran made it through six innings against the Baltimore Orioles in his most recent outing on Tuesday, giving up three runs on eight hits and three walks, but he was still saddled with the loss in an 8-3 final at home.

As for Toronto, they go with former Cy Young winner Roy Halladay, who has been credited with just one win in the last four outings.

On Tuesday the 10-year veteran permitted only a single run on five hits and three walks, while striking out six over seven innings, and still that failed to get him and the Jays over New York in a 3-2 setback.

Halladay entered this season an even 3-3 versus Seattle all-time, but he took the loss in his previous start versus the Mariners, dropping him below .500 against the club.

Over the last week of action Vidro has a team-high eight hits, doing his damage in just five games while Ichiro Suzuki has seven hits and five runs scored in six outings. While he has one of the team's four home runs in the last week, Adrian Beltre has been anything but a reliable hitter, posting a .125 average in six starts for the Mariners, who are now just a game behind the Angels for first place in the AL West.

As for the Blue Jays, three games under .500 overall and 11 out of first in the AL East, they are hitting a collective .244 over the last seven games even with Alex Rios coming in at a .345 clip with a team-high four runs scored for a squad that has plated a total of only 15 runs in the last week of action.

Seattle, which had won a total of just 10 games against the Jays over the last three seasons combined, has already swept Toronto at Safeco Field and is 4-1 overall in 2007.

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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.