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07/23/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners continue to push forward in their attempt to take over the top spot in the American League West. Although the club has gone just 5-5 since the All-Star break, a recent slump by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim now has Seattle finding itself just two games out of first place in the division standings.
The Mariners' climb towards the top has not been an easy one, as they have trailed the Angels by as many as eight games over the last month. Seattle's resurgence began about three weeks ago, as they won nine of 10 games to close out the month of June. The winning carried over into early July and at 13 games above .500 (54-41), Seattle is very much alive in both the races for the AL West crown and the league's wild card spot.
The Mariners closed the gap in AL West earlier this week by taking two out of three games from the Baltimore Orioles. However, they failed to capitalize on the momentum, as they dropped two out of three games to the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend.
Seattle opened the series with a 4-2 win on Friday night. Starter Miguel Batista earned his 10th win of the season, limiting the Blue Jays to just two runs on five hits through 5 2/3 innings. The Mariners' bullpen took care of the rest, holding the Blue Jays scoreless over the final 3 1/3 innings. Closer J.J. Putz continued his dominance by collecting his 29th save of the season.
Seattle registered just six hits in the win, but received a two-run homer from Adrian Beltre in the fourth inning to take control of the game.
Friday's win would be the last for Seattle, as it dropped two straight to end the series. The Mariners lost a 1-0 heartbreaker on Saturday despite an outstanding effort from starter Jeff Weaver. The right-hander was dominant in the loss, allowing just one run on four hits through eight innings. However, the Mariners' struggles at the plate continued, as they collected just three hits in the loss.
Seattle's hitting problems were evident again during Sunday's 8-0 setback, as the Mariners were held to a meaningless three hits for a second straight day.
Starting pitcher Felix Hernandez was saddled with the loss after surrendering six runs on seven hits through six innings. The Mariners also suffered a meltdown in the fifth inning that led to the ejection of manager John McLaren.
SUZUKI SIGNED THROUGH 2012
Although the trade deadline is still a week away, the Mariners have already made their most important move of the season by re-signing center fielder Ichiro Suzuki to a five-year contract extension. The re-signing was a must for Seattle, which would have had to go through a bidding war for Suzuki during the offseason.
Suzuki did not come cheap, signing for a reported $90 million over the next five years, but the deal, which was finalized on July 13, will keep the All- Star in Seattle through the 2012 season.
Signing Suzuki before the offseason gives merit to the Mariners' stance that they are dedicated to building a winner. Ichiro has been the cornerstone of the franchise since joining Seattle in 2000. He has more than 200 hits in each of his seven major league seasons while earning a Gold Glove in each of the past six years.
Suzuki has continued to thrill this season, batting .346 with 136 hits on the year. Just two weeks ago, he recorded the first inside-the-park home run in All-Star Game history on his way to being named the contest's MVP. He became the first Mariner to garner the honor since Ken Griffey Jr. did so in 1992.
Suzuki's deal includes much more than the reported $90 million in guaranteed salary. The Japanese star will also receive a $5 million signing bonus, a yearly housing allowance, a new car, a personal trainer and interpreter, plus four first class tickets from Seattle to Japan each year.
Executive vice president Bill Bavasi spoke about the importance of re-signing Suzuki and what the outfielder has meant to the Mariners and the city of Seattle.
"This is a tremendously important day for our ballclub, the club's fans and for Ichiro, but more importantly, it's a real exciting day for us," Bavasi said. "Ichiro is a cornerstone that you use to build a winning club. He plays hard, he plays the game right, he sets a great example for our younger players, and any players, just based on his dedication and his preparation."
As for Ichiro, he is happy to be able to call Seattle home for the next five seasons.
"Well, I can't say there was a particular day that I decided [to stay]," said Suzuki. "But during the season we go to different teams, different places on the road, and the fans from opposing teams always told me, 'Please come here, please come to our team,' in many different places. To be honest, I was moved during those times, and also the fans in Japan [who] asked me to come back to Japan to play. But in the end, when I came back to Seattle and the fans here asked me to stay here, that was a moment that meant the most to me and that's when I decided."
REITSMA GIVES PEN A BOOST
Chris Reitsma's return to the Seattle bullpen has given the Mariners a solid right-handed set-up man. Unfortunately, the Mariners will be unable to gauge Reitsma's long term affect until he proves that he can be called upon on a nightly basis. The oft-injured hurler has spent the majority of this season on the disabled list, missing time from April 19 to June 4 with an elbow injury only to go back on the DL from June 11 to July 5 for the same reason.
Reitsma has been solid since re-joining the club earlier this month, having allowed just one run over his last four appearances. He has shown power and control on the mound and has given the Mariners another option in the late innings. However, the right-hander has yet to pitch on consecutive nights and many in the organization are unsure as to how his elbow will respond.
If Reitsma is able to regain full strength and become a solid reliever, the Mariners may have found the missing piece to a run at the AL West crown. However, if his troublesome elbow limits his playing time, the Mariners may have to hit the market in search of another setup man.
Reitsma is confident that his elbow is ready for the test. He has dealt with elbow problems in the past and believes that he is more than ready to pitch on back-to-back nights.
"At this point in time, I feel I am fully able to do that," he said. "I realize there are going to be days when I wake up after pitching the night before and my elbow will ache a little. But I don't anticipate anything happening to debilitate me the rest of the way. If it stays like this, I definitely can pitch in back-to-back games."
McLaren will be proactive in testing Reitsma's endurance, but is not going to do anything that may jeopardize the health of his already-stellar bullpen.
"When you are coming off an injury, pitching back-to-back is one step back," McLaren said. "We had that issue with (Brandon) Morrow, because he had never done it before. We got over that hurdle a little bit and now we have to do the same with Chris."
WHO'S HOT
Designated hitter Jose Vidro has been hot out of the break, hitting safely in five of his last six games and going 15-for-39 (.385) at the plate since July 6. Vidro, who is a career .301 hitter, is batting .299 with 47 runs scored this season.
WHO'S NOT
Raul Ibanez is battling through a slump right now, going just 4-for-35 at the plate over his last 10 games. He has gone hitless in four of his last five outings and was a pitiful 1-for-12 during the Toronto series. The outfielder is batting .258 with six home runs and 57 RBI on the season.
ON DECK
The Mariners will travel to Arlington for a four-game set against the Texas Rangers beginning Monday. The opener will feature Horacio Ramirez (5-2, 5.89) and Texas ace Kevin Millwood (6-8, 5.50). Tuesday's double-header will kick off with a showdown between Mariners lefty Jarrod Washburn (8-7, 4.02) and John Rheinecker (0-0. 12.00), with Ryan Feierabend (1-3, 9.31) pitching the nightcap for Seattle opposite Kameron Loe (5-8, 5.69). Wednesday night's finale will feature Batista (10-7, 4.32) and Brandon McCarthy (4-7, 5.53).
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My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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