Blue Jays host Orioles in battle of the birds

Baseball Betting Lines

06/06/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays hope a return home can help them shake off a heartbreaking loss their last time out. The club will host the Baltimore Orioles tonight in the opener of a three-game series at Rogers Centre.

Toronto ended a nine-game road trip on Thursday with a 9-8 setback to the New York Yankees. The Blue Jays carried an 8-6 edge into the final frame, but closer B.J. Ryan gave up a run-scoring single to Hideki Matsui before yielding a pinch-hit, two-run homer to Jason Giambi with two outs.

Matt Stairs finished 3-for-5 with a two-run homer and five RBI, while Lyle Overbay drove in the other runs for the Blue Jays, who lost five of nine on the trip.

Toronto, though, has won its last five games at home and begins a nine-game residency tonight. The Blue Jays are 15-11 at home this year.

The Blue Jays' Shaun Marcum will try to get on track tonight, as he has won just once in his last five outings (1-1). He got a no-decision against the Angels on Saturday, as he worked around a career-high 11 hits to allow only two runs in seven innings of work.

The right-hander, who is 5-3 with a 2.63 earned run average on the season, faced the Orioles on April 15 in Baltimore and got the win behind 6 2/3 innings of two-run, four-hit ball.

Marcum served up homers to Adam Jones and Nick Markakis in that game while improving to 1-1 with a 6.39 ERA in seven games (5 starts) lifetime versus the O's.

Markakis, in fact, has hit Marcum hard in his career, as four of his five career hits against the righty have been homers. Both he and Jones went deep on Thursday in a 3-2 victory over Minnesota.

Markakis hit a two-run shot in the third inning, while Jones put the Orioles ahead for good with a solo homer to lead off the seventh frame. Baltimore took two out of three over the Twins to open a nine-game road trip.

Now with an eight-game hitting streak, Markakis is batting .394 (13-for-33) over his run, and his homer on Thursday was his first during the streak.

Orioles starter Garrett Olson (5-1) was credited with the victory, scattering two runs and eight hits through 6 1/3 frames. George Sherrill hurled a scoreless ninth for his 20th save of the season.

Left-hander Brian Burres starts for Baltimore tonight and has struggled in his last two outings. He gave up eight runs in 3 2/3 innings of a no-decision against the Yankees on May 27 before allowing seven runs on 12 hits in a loss to Boston on Sunday. He lasted just four innings in that one and has yielded six homers in his last two starts.

The 27-year-old is now 4-5 on the season, and his ERA has risen from 3.16 to 4.87 over his last two performances.

Burres is 1-2 with a 6.06 ERA in four games (3 starts) versus Toronto, but has a 1.50 ERA in two starts at Rogers Centre.

The Blue Jays and Orioles split a two-game set in Baltimore from April 14-15. Toronto won six of nine at home versus the O's last year.

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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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