A-Rod tries to inch closer to 500 homers as Yanks host Rays

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07/22/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shooting for their third straight victory, the New York Yankees close out a four-game set against division rival Tampa Bay this afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

After being crushed in the series opener on Friday night by a score of 14-4, the Bronx Bombers rebounded to take both ends of a doubleheader on Saturday with a 7-3 victory in the opener and then a 17-5 thrashing in the nightcap.

The early game made a winner out of Luis Vizcaino, even though he pitched just one inning of relief behind a strong effort by starter Kei Igawa. Igawa allowed just two runs on seven hits, two of those home runs, over five innings of action. Shelley Duncan, Andy Phillips and Hideki Matsui all knocked in two runs, while Alex Rodriguez crossed the plate twice in the win.

BJ Upton had yet another home run for the Devil Rays and had a total of three hits in the first game, but it wasn't nearly enough as reliever Jae Kuk Ryu suffered the loss.

Yankee bats made a huge statement in the second game as they generated 20 hits, eight of those being doubles, in the lopsided decision. Rodriguez cranked his 33rd home run of the season, leaving him three shy of 500 for his career, and also knocked in four runs to leave him four shy of 100 RBI for the season.

Johnny Damon had a four-RBI game and Bobby Abreu finished 2-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored for New York.

Yankees starter Matt DeSalvo gave up seven hits and four runs in 4 2/3 innings. Vizcaino threw 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to pick up his second win of the day.

JP Howell surrendered a career-high 10 hits and career-high seven runs in five innings for the Devil Rays, who had won three of four games heading into action on Saturday. Jonny Gomes went 3-for-4 with two runs scored for the visitors.

As someone who has never finished at or below .500 in a single season, Andy Pettitte is having a rough go of it in the Bronx this season, but with a 12-1 career mark against Tampa Bay this might be the perfect matchup for the left-hander this afternoon.

Pettitte, already 1-0 this season versus the Rays, allowed just a single run on seven hits over seven innings on Tuesday against Toronto, yet still failed to factor into what became a 3-2 win for the Bombers. The Louisiana native seemed to be hitting all of his spots in that outing, fanning a season-high seven batters along the way.

As for Tampa Bay, James Shields is just the opposite of Pettitte because he has yet to earn a victory against New York, now 0-3 after losing his first decision of the season to the Yankees.

Shields, who is just a single game over .500 for his career at the moment, picked up his eighth win of the campaign on Tuesday when he permitted just two runs on seven hits over seven innings of work. He walked one and struck out two, which means he's fanned a total of just four in his last two outings after coming up with a total of 27 in the previous three games.

With their two wins yesterday the Yankees moved to within 7 1/2 games of Boston for first place in the AL East and are now 31-20 at home in 2007 while Tampa Bay wallows in last in the division, a mere 16-31 on the road and 20 games out of contention.

As he has done for much of the season, Rodriguez leads the majors in both home runs (33) and RBI (96) and now has nine runs scored as well over the last eight games.

The Devil Rays, who have won just four times in the last 14 games in the Bronx, have gotten huge production out of Upton in the last seven days, watching him knock out three home runs, plate nine and score nine times himself.

The Yankees now lead the season series 6-5 after yesterday's double header sweep.

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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

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