Rays resume playoff push in second test with Orioles

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09/04/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays own the best road record of any team in the majors this season, in part due to their success at Baltimore's Camden Yards. The postseason contenders will have their sights set on another victory over the homestanding Orioles when the two American League East foes continue a three-game series this evening.

Tampa Bay improved to 40-25 on the road and 6-1 at Camden Yards in 2010 by virtue of last night's 4-1 triumph. The victory, the fifth in the last six games for the Rays, kept Joe Maddon's club 1 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees in the race for home-field advantage throughout the upcoming AL Playoffs as well as first place in the league's East Division.

Matt Garza (14-7) continued his own dominance of the Orioles in Friday's opener, with the Tampa hurler yielding one run over the first 5 2/3 innings to notch his 14th win of the season. Garza moved to 9-1 lifetime against Baltimore and 6-0 in eight starts at Camden Yards.

"He really utilized his changeup," Maddon said of Garza. "He was throwing it on some really odd counts, 2-2, 3-2 pitches, which prevented [the Orioles] from just sitting hard and I think that was the big difference [Friday]."

Carl Crawford paced the Rays offensively with three hits, including an RBI single in the top of the third that knocked in the game's first run. Reid Brignac finished 2-for-4 with a run-scoring base hit of his own for Tampa Bay, now 10-3 against the bottom-feeding Orioles so far this season.

Baltimore's Kevin Millwood (3-15) became the majors' first 15-game loser of the year after the veteran righty was reached for four runs and issued five walks in a 5 2/3-inning stint.

"Any time you walk five guys and hit a guy against a team like that, you're going to struggle to win," Millwood said afterward.

The Orioles have now dropped three in a row following a four-game winning streak and will call upon Jeremy Guthrie to end the team's skid. If the right- hander is able to duplicate the line of his most recent start, Baltimore should have a good chance of doing so.

Guthrie limited the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to four hits and a walk over 8 1/3 shutout innings to lead the O's to a 1-0 verdict this past Sunday. The effort continued a strong second half for the former first-round draft choice, as he's now 5-2 with an excellent 2.51 earned run average in nine outings following the All-Star break.

The 31-year-old also shut down the Rays in a matchup in St. Petersburg last month, surrendering a mere two hits over six scoreless innings in Baltimore's 5-0 win on August 13. Guthrie did struggle in two subsequent starts, allowing 12 runs (11 earned) over a combined 14 2/3 innings to suffer back-to-back defeats to Seattle and the Chicago White Sox, before rebounding with last weekend's gem.

For his career, Guthrie is 4-7 with a 4.28 ERA in 14 appearances (12 starts) versus Tampa Bay.

James Shields draws the assignment for the Rays tonight and has also put together a nice second-half surge. The durable righty has won six of eight decisions since the break and enters this contest riding a three-start winning streak.

Shields has pitched to a 2.75 ERA and fanned 24 batters in 19 2/3 innings over the course of his unbeaten stretch, which came after he was outdueled by Guthrie in that August 13 clash with the Orioles. In that game, the 28-year- old was tagged for four runs and 10 hits in only five frames.

In his latest start, Shields permitted three runs and struck out eight through 6 2/3 innings to defeat Boston on Sunday, six days after he registered 10 punchouts and tossed six innings of three-run ball (two earned) in a road win over the Angels.

Shields does sport a 7-3 record with a 3.32 ERA in 18 career encounters with the Orioles and has never lost at Camden Yards, having amassed a 4-0 mark with a 3.04 ERA in eight overall starts at the venue.

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After all the trouble that’s ensued since Braylon Edwards allegedly punched one of LeBron James’ homeboys in the face at a club, the Cleveland Browns have sent away their last remaining player of worth to the New York Jets. This is a great move for Dirty Sanchez and all, but it’s even better for the Knicks. Now Donnie Walsh can say, “You get to haunt Braylon Edwards with your posse if you sign here!” next summer.

Putting that aside for a moment, the move is a clear indication that the new-look Jets are gunning for the Super Bowl this year. I don’t think that New York thought that Dirty Sanchez was going to be such a rock star. With a 75.2 passer rating that was killed against the Jets, Sanchez is doing an admirable job of managing games and putting the Jets in a position to win. The defense has been the major story in New York thus far, but the acquisition of Braylon Edwards makes this offense loaded with talent that can dent any defense…as long as Dirty Sanchez continues his meteoric rise.

Thus far, Edwards has been a non-factor in the NFL piling up just 139 receiving yards on 10 catches. He has yet to find the endzone, and with the Browns mired in the most unsexy quarterback controversy of all time (Anderson vs. Quinn...yawn), there going nowhere fast. Edwards is two seasons removed from a career year which saw him catch 80 passes for 1,289 yards and 16 touchdowns when the Browns were the spread killing monsters of 2007. In 2008, injuries slowed the receiver down to just 873 yards and three touchdowns though he played in all 16 games.

So that being said, we really don’t know if Braylon Edwards is just a flash in the pan, or a legit threat. At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, he is a prototypical receiver. But he’s also shown a strange, and unwarranted, talent for dropping passes. Lining up opposite Jericho Cotchery, a speed demon with 23 catches, 356 yards and a single touchdown, may give Braylon the open looks he needs. A change of scenery may also rejuvenate the star receiver.

In return, the Browns will receive Chansi Stuckey, online football betting a special teams player you’ve never heard of and a pair of draft picks. That’s a tall order for a guy whose only real value right now is in his name, and it shows no promise to the Browns that they can rebuild around those acquisitions. Braylon was the only reason to hope for the Browns to go 3-14 SU this year. Without him, they don’t have a single guy on offense that can scare any team.

For the Jets, it’s a response to the pounding that they took at the hand of the Saints. Thomas Jones and Leon Washington have averaged around 4.0 yards per carry each on the ground, but striking a fair balance between the passing and rushing attacks in New York has been a struggle. You have to believe that the trio of Dustin Keller, Jericho Cotchery and Braylon Edwards will give Sanchez the weapons he needs to unleash through the air. Theoretically, that would open up holes for the rushing game. But the proposed public option health care plan works in theory too. We need to see the proof in the pudding before we start loading up mega bucks on the New York Jets to take the AFC.

The one wrinkle in this whole thing is that Braylon could very well be suspended by the league for disciplinary action due to his “brawl” with LeBron’s friend. If that’s the case, the Jets may have to bench him for a few games leaving them with a somewhat depleted receiving corps for a few games. Also, this is a guy who gets in fights with people at clubs. New York may not be the best place for him. Just sayin’.

The Jets have a long week before they meet the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football Betting in a virtual pick ‘em game. Braylon’s excess baggage may be a distraction, and his curiously low production may be what we should be expecting of him overall, but for the Jets, taking a chance to strike gold is well worth it. At the end of the year, they can simply just blame it on their rookie quarterback.

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