Bombs away: Power-swinging Yanks charge into Kansas City

Baseball Betting Lines

07/23/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees bring their powerful bats into Kansas City for a four-game series with an improving Royals club that begins this evening at Kauffman Stadium.

After enduring a disappointing 14-4 loss to Tampa Bay on Friday, New York outscored the lowly Devil Rays by a 45-12 margin to win the final three tests of a four-game weekend set between the clubs at Yankee Stadium. The 49 total runs were the most in club history for a four-game series since the Bronx Bombers scored 57 times against the Philadelphia Athletics from August 11-13, 1939.

The Yankee offense was at its best over the final two contests. New York pounded out 20 hits in a 17-5 shellacking in the nightcap of a doubleheader on Saturday, then followed with a 25-hit, six-homer barrage in Sunday's 21-4 rout of the Rays.

Alex Rodriguez belted his major league-leading 34th home run of the season and finished with three RBI for the Yankees, while rookie Shelley Duncan clubbed a pair of homers and drove in four runs on the afternoon. New York also received five hits from Hideki Matsui, including a home run, while Robinson Cano went 4-for-6 with a homer and three RBI.

Bobby Abreu also went deep for New York, which has won five straight series and compiled a 14-5 record over that span, and ended 3-for-4 with three RBI.

Andy Pettitte (6-6) was the beneficiary of Sunday's power surge and won his 12th consecutive decision over Tampa Bay by allowing three runs and striking out eight over the first six innings.

With his two-run blast in the sixth inning, Rodriguez now needs just two long balls to become the youngest player in baseball history to reach the coveted 500-homer milestone.

While the Yankees clearly flexed their offensive muscle over the weekend, the club hasn't provided the same type of support when Roger Clemens has taken the mound lately.

The 44-year-old, who will start tonight's opener for New York, received a no decision in his most recent outing despite pitching well enough to win. Clemens held Toronto to one run in six innings of work on Wednesday, but left the game trailing by a 1-0 score. The Yankees later scored six times to emerge victorious.

Clemens is 0-1 in three starts since he earned his 350th career victory by defeating Minnesota on July 2, although the future Hall of Famer has posted a 3.26 earned run average during that stretch.

The seven-time Cy Young Award winner has dominated the Royals over the course of his brilliant career, having amassed a 24-7 record with a 2.17 ERA in 39 lifetime starts. He has not faced Kansas City since the 2005 season, though.

Clemens will take on a Royals squad that has won four of its last five games and just took two of three matchups on the road from the defending AL champion Detroit Tigers. In Sunday's rubber match, Brian Bannister delivered seven outstanding innings to lead Kansas City to a 5-2 triumph.

Bannister (6-6) yielded only one run and four hits while recording three strikeouts. The right-hander received offensive support from Mark Grudzielanek, who collected four hits, and Esteban German, who finished 2- for-5 with a solo home run.

Grudzielanek is batting .542 (13-for-24) over his last five games.

The Royals will send out Odalis Perez in the opener and the left-hander will attempt to win back-to-back starts for the first time since April.

Perez wasn't overly impressive his last time out, as he allowed five runs on seven hits in five innings at Boston on Wednesday, but wound up with the win in a 6-5 Kansas City decision. In his three July starts, the native Dominican has surrendered 13 earned runs and 24 hits over 15 2/3 innings.

The 30-year-old's only previous start against the Yankees came while he was with Atlanta on July 17, 1999. It wasn't a memorable occasion, as Perez was rocked for eight runs and eight hits in just 4 2/3 innings to suffer the loss.

Tonight's game marks the first 2007 meeting between these teams. The Yankees have won 10 of their last 12 encounters with Kansas City and took two of three contests at Kauffman Stadium last September.

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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.

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