Sunshine State foes resume set at the Trop

Baseball Betting Lines

06/12/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Sunshine State warms up with the second of a three-game interleague set between the Florida Marlins and the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field tonight.

Despite being just three games over .500 at home so far this season, the Rays continue to sport the best record in all of baseball and are currently a game ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the American League East. However, the Rays have gone from enjoying a three-game win streak to losing back-to-back outings after falling to Florida on Friday night, 14-9.

While Tampa managed to post nine runs, the final score was not a clear indication of how much the Marlins dominated the meeting. Florida, now 4 1/2 games out of first place in the National League East thanks to a two-game win streak, registered a total of nine runs between the third and fourth innings alone, leaving the Rays to play catch-up the rest of the way.

Gaby Sanchez cracked a pair of home runs and knocked in a total of six for the Marlins, a monster effort on his part given that he has but nine home runs and 32 RBI for his entire major league career thus far. Also having a strong game for the visitors was Chris Coghlan who logged four hits and a pair of walks, resulting in four runs scored. Cody Ross and Mike Stanton accounted for two hits apiece and a combined five RBI.

"Everything just seemed to bounce right for us," Coghlan said of his team's offensive explosion. "Everything went well, and also when we hit the ball hard, we got hits that way, too. I thought we did a great job scoring early and often."

Anibal Sanchez worked his way through seven innings for the Marlins, the starter giving up four earned runs on seven hits and three walks, while striking out four in his sixth win of the campaign.

Tampa starter James Shields didn't stand a chance against the Florida bats, permitting an unsightly 10 runs on nine hits and three walks over 3 1/3 innings of work. Carlos Pena, owner of the only home run of the game for the hosts, had three hits altogether and scored four of his team's nine runs. Hank Blalock chipped in another three hits, scored twice and knocked in a pair as well.

Having shown he can dominate Florida batters in previous meetings, Matt Garza stands as the starter for the Rays tonight. Garza, who has a record of 2-0 and a slim 1.13 ERA in 16 previous innings versus Florida, snapped a personal three-game slide on Sunday when he and the Rays logged a 9-5 win over Texas on the road in Arlington.

In that contest the right-hander allowed four runs on six hits and a pair of walks, fanning four over the course of 5 2/3 innings and yet his season ERA still jumped up to 3.31.

Heading to the hill for the visiting Marlins is Ricky Nolasco. The right- hander, who already has a career 2-1 mark against Tampa Bay, has won just one of his previous four starts. On Sunday the hurler gave up three runs on eight hits and three walks, while striking out just two over 5 1/3 innings against the New York Mets in a decision that failed to earn him a decision.

While he had a bit of a control problem versus the Mets, Nolasco has delivered almost four times as many K's (54) than walks (15) so far in 2010.

Even though he was taken out of Friday's contest, Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria remains one of the hottest players in the majors, thanks to an eight-game hit streak and having reached base in 29 straight games, the longest active streak in the major leagues. In his last 22 at-bats alone, Longoria has 10 hits and is batting a staggering .455. As a unit, the Rays are hitting a robust .290 over the last six contests.

Over on the Marlins side, Sanchez is hitting .381 in the last five games, accounting for seven RBI and three of his team's seven home runs during the span.

Despite last night's setback, the Rays have still won 12 of the 15 meetings between the in-state rivals since June of 2007.

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Super Bowl XLIV Odds

Super Bowl XLIII isn't even a week old yet and oddsmakers have already released Super Bowl XLIV odds.

Despite the Pittsburgh Steelers winning Super Bowl 43, the New England Patriots are 8/1 favorites to win Super Bowl 44.

Bet Super Bowl XLIV Future Odds

With their 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII, the Steelers became the latest NFL champion. But believe it or not, oddsmakers from online sports book MySportsbook.com don't have the Steelers the favorites to win Super Bowl XLIV next season.

That honor belongs to the New England Patriots, who are 8/1 favorites to win despite not even qualify for the postseason in 2008. The Pats also have a major decision to make regarding what to do with Matt Cassel, who played well in Tom Brady's (knee surgery) absence last year but is also a free agent this offseason.

Ironically, the Steelers aren't even oddsmakers second choice to win Super Bowl 44, as the Dallas Cowboys are listed right behind the Patriots at 9/1 despite not making the playoffs themselves. Clearly oddsmakers think the public will hop back on the Cowboys' bandwagon considering the immense talent they have and the opening of a brand new stadium.

After Dallas, then comes Pittsburgh at 10/1, but they share those odds with the New York Giants, who won Super Bowl XLII. The Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers round out the top six teams at 12/1, while the Baltimore Ravens (14/1), Tennessee Titans (16/1), Carolina Panthers (18/1) and Philadelphia Eagles (18/1) complete the top 10.

The NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals got no love from oddsmakers as they were established as a 30/1 long shot to win next year's Super Bowl. They share those same odds with the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers – two teams that didn't even qualify for the postseason. Other long shots are the Kansas City Chiefs (100/1), Detroit Lions (100/1), St. Louis Rams (75/1) and Oakland Raiders (75/1).

To see a complete list of all the team's odds to win Super Bowl XLIV, check below.

NFL TEAM FUTURE ODDS TO WIN SUPER BOWL XLIV

New England Patriots 8/1

Dallas Cowboys 9/1

New York Giants 10/1

Pittsburgh Steelers 10/1

Indianapolis Colts 12/1

San Diego Chargers 12/1

Baltimore Ravens 14/1

Tennessee Titans 16/1

Carolina Panthers 18/1

Philadelphia Eagles 18/1

New Orleans Saints 20/1

Atlanta Falcons 25/1

Denver Broncos 25/1

Green Bay Packers 25/1

Jacksonville Jaguars 25/1

Minnesota Vikings 25/1

New York Jets 25/1

Arizona Cardinals 30/1

Chicago BearS 30/1

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30/1

Buffalo Bills 35/1

Houston TexaNS 35/1

Miami Dolphins 35/1

Washington Redskins 35/1

Seattle SeahawkS 50/1

Cleveland Browns 55/1

Cincinnati Bengals 60/1

San Francisco 49ers 60/1

Oakland Raiders 75/1

St. Louis Rams 75/1

Detroit Lions 100/1

Kansas City Chiefs 100/1

Odds as of: 2/2/09

Bet Super Bowl XLIV Future Odds

To visit this online sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.