Angels hope to get second half off to good start vs. Mariners

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07/15/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - No team was happier to see the All-Star break than the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Hopefully recharged, the Angels get their second half started with the opener of a four-game set with the Seattle Mariners at Angel Stadium.

The Angels headed into the break with losses in eight of their final 10 games. However, despite their struggles and injury problems, the Angels are only 4 1/2 games off the pace of the American League West-leading Texas Rangers.

Of course the Angels' hopes took a hit with the season-ending leg injury to first baseman Kendry Morales. Outfielder Torii Hunter, though, has picked up the slack in Morales' absence, belting 15 home runs and 62 RBI. However, he struggled heading into the break, managing just one hit over his final 10 at- bats.

"We know that one person is not going to fill Kendry Morales' shoes and what he brings to the team," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He's the one hitter in the middle of our lineup that really makes everyone around him better. I think that speaks volume to his talents. That being said, I think that our offensive lineup -- if people can play to their capabilities -- will be deep enough for us to absorb a lot of that and to give ourselves an opportunity to score runs and support what we think is a good pitching staff."

Tonight the Angels turn to right-hander Joel Pineiro, who has gone at least six innings in each of his last nine starts and has a 6-1 record during that span. Pineiro did not get a decision in his last start before the break on Friday in Oakland, as he allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings of his team's 6-5 win.

Pineiro, who pitched the first seven years of his career in Seattle, beat the Mariners back on June 6 and is 1-1 with a 5.87 ERA in three games (one start) against them.

Seattle, meanwhile, was perhaps the American League's most disappointing team in the first half. With Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez at the top of the rotation, most people had the Mariners finishing first in the AL West. However, Lee missed the first month of the season with an abdominal injury and Seattle struggled offensively, putting itself in a hole that led to the trade of Lee to Texas right before the break.

At 35-53, the Mariners occupy last place in the West, 15 games back of the Rangers. Seattle headed into the break having lost nine of its last 11 games.

"Obviously there have been some challenges and disappointments," Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu said. "As we go forward, we feel like we need to get over some hurdles offensively."

Seattle will hand the ball tonight to righty Doug FIster, who is 3-4 with a 3.09 ERA. Fister did not get a decision the last time he pitched back on July 7 against Kansas City, but gave up just one run and six hits in six innings of his team's 7-3 loss.

Fister is 1-0 in two starts against the Angels with a 2.51 ERA.

The Angels are 7-2 against Seattle this season and have not lost a season series against the Mariners since 2003.

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Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards

Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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