Ness Notes for August 21
The Seahawks beat the Colts 30-17 in Indy last night and the Raiders posted three straight wins this preseason when they beat the 49ers 23-7 in Oakland. The Colts have now lost eight straight preseason games (2-6 ATS), matching the Chiefs’ eight-game winning streak (0-8 ATS). The 49ers had their five-game ATS winning streak snapped last night (they were just 3-2 SU), leaving the Giants with the longest active winning streak at five (both SU and ATS).
My bye for Monday is the Oak A’s over the Tor Blue Jays at 7:05 ET. After a weekend full of 7-2 sports (Friday-Sunday), I open the new week in MLB with an exclusive Las Vegas Insider (5-1 since August 5). In NFLX, I’m continuing my 5-1 streak in Week 2 (5-0 on the sides with a combined 132-23 winning margin!) with my 15* Monday Night Delight.
The Cowboys will visit the Saints tonight in Shreveport on MNF on ESPN (8:00 ET). Dallas will bring a four-game preseason winning streak (both SU and ATS) into the contest, after opening with a 13-3 win in Week 1 at Seattle. The Saints, just 8-12 SU and 7-12-1 ATS in the last five years in the preseason, also won their first game of Week 1, beating the Titans 19-16 in Tennessee. The Cowboys are favored by three points with a total of 35.
Home teams are 8-7 SU and ATS in Week 2 (only tonight’s game remains), with eight of the 15 games going over the total. Things can change quickly in any sport (at any time of year) and we were reminded of that this weekend. After two more unders on Thursday, unders bettors were on a 15-4 winning streak to open this year’s preseason. However, eight of the last 13 games have been passed.
Six teams have scored 30 points or more since Friday, after only the Jaguars scored that many in their 31-26 Week 1 win over the Dolphins through the first 19 games of preseason. The Bengals beat the Bills in Buffalo on Friday, 44-31. It’s the highest scoring game to date (75 points) and the Bengals’ 44 points are the most by any team to date.
MLB ratings
In 1978 it was called the “Boston Massacre” and with one game remaining in the five-game Yankees/Red Sox series (today at 1:05 ET), it was outlined as the “Boston Massacre, Part 2.” In the first three games of the series, the Yankees scored a total of 39 runs, as Boston’s starters allowed 24 hits and 20 runs in just 13 2/3 innings. Curt Schilling went seven innings last night allowing just three runs and walked away with a 5-3 lead.
However, Boston’s bullpen allowed single runs in the eighth and ninth innings (tying run scored with two outs!) and two more in the tenth, as the Yanks won again, 5-3. Boston’s bullpen, in four games, has allowed 28 hits, 16 walks, and 23 ERs in 16.1 innings (12.67)! The Yankees have now extended their lead in the AL East to a season-high 5 1/2 games. Monday’s starters are Cory Lidle and David Wells.
While Boston’s coaching staff gave us plenty of pitching details over the weekend, the Angels’ Jered Weaver won his ninth game without a loss on Friday night (12 ML starts) when he beat the Mariners 3-0. He is now 9-0 with a 1.95 ERA and joins Whitey Ford as the only AL rookie to open his career 9-0.
Johan Santana defeated the White Sox in Minnesota yesterday 7-3, improving his record to 13-0 in his last 20 starts at the Metrodome (since Aug. 6, 2005). The Twins have won each of those games, becoming the first team in the modern era (since 1900) to win 20 straight home games that were started by a particular pitcher. His ERA during that 20-game stretch is 2.03.
The Mets won their fourth straight game on Sunday (2-0) behind Orlando Hernandez. Interestingly enough, the Mets opened the week losing Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at Philadelphia, by a combined score of 27-4. The team’s four-game winning streak is the longest active of any team in MLB, but more importantly, the Mets are 14 games ahead of the Phillies in the NL East, easily the largest margin. from any division leader. The Tigers and Yankees lead their divisions by 5 1/2 games.
Hernández improved his record with the Mets to 7-5 and since El Duque’s first start for the Mets (May 28), he and Steve Trachsel have a combined record of 17-6 in 30 starts. During that span, Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine’s projected one-two is 8-8 in 25 starts. Who should be the Mets’ Game 1 and 2 starters when playoff time rolls around?
The Angels are tied with the Mets for four straight wins as they completed a weekend sweep of the Mariners on Sunday, 3-2. The Mariners have the longest active losing streak in MLB at 11 in a row, but that’s not half the story. Seattle completed its 0-11 road trip with Sunday’s loss at Anaheim. Since 1977 (the Mariners’ inaugural season), only one other major league team has had a winless tour of at least 11 games. In 1989, the Tigers were swept on an 11-game tour of Toronto, Boston, and Kansas City.
Sunday’s loss extended Seattle’s unprecedented losing streak against AL West rivals to 20 games (the longest by any team within its division since the start of divisional play in 1969). Seattle is 10-32 against the American League West in 2005. Neither the Angels, Mets nor Mariners play Monday. Monday’s schedule is pretty light with just 10 games on the card. All games except the Yankees/Red Sox will be played under the lights.
The main matchup is, of course, the start of a four-game series between the White Sox and Tigers in Detroit (7:05 ET). Chicago swept a three-game series from Detroit Aug. 11-13 at US Cellular Field to drop within 5 1/2 games of the division-leading Tigers, and has managed to hold the deficit to that number despite losing four of seven since then. Serie.
Contreras (11-5, 3.78 ERA) threw three-hit ball against the Tigers on Aug. 2. 11 in the world and achieved his first career shutout in a 5–0 victory. He is 3-1 with a 1.45 ERA in four starts against Detroit this season, and is 8-3 with a 3.01 ERA in 15 career starts against the Tigers. However, after winning 17 straight decisions since last year, he is 2-5 with a 4.63 ERA in his last eight starts overall.
Detroit will send Verlander (14-6, 3.14) to the mound to open this series. He is 0-3 with a 9.88 ERA in three starts against the White Sox this season, including a loss to Contreras on Aug. 1. 11 when he allowed five runs on a career-high 13 hits in five innings.
CFB Notes
The AP preseason poll was released over the weekend, and like the coaches’ poll, which has been out for a couple of weeks, Ohio State will open as the top-ranked team in the nation. It’s Ohio State’s first preseason No. 1 ranking since 1998 and the seventh time it has happened in school history (Oklahoma leads with nine preseason No. 1s). Ohio State fans hope history doesn’t repeat itself, as the Buckeyes have never won a national title after opening as the top-ranked team in the nation.
Troy Smith returns to QB and led Ohio State on a season-ending seven-game winning streak (7-0 ATS). The Buckeyes averaged 38 PPG during that career, and Smith capped the season by throwing for 642 yards in wins over Michigan (25-21) and Notre Dame (34-20 in the Fiesta Bowl). Offense won’t be a problem for Ohio State, but defense must replace NINE starters, including first-round NFL draft linebacker AJ Hawk (No. 5 for GB), safety Donte Whitner (No. 8 for Buffalo) and LB Bobby Carpenter. (No. 18 to Dallas).
Ohio State received by far the most first-place votes (35 of 65), but six teams received at least one, the most since 11 schools received first-place votes in 1984. Notre Dame (10) will open as the number one school in the country. 2, the school’s best showing since opening No. 2 in 1994. By the way, ND fans, the Irish went 6-5-1 that year and unranked, after losing 41-24 to Colorado at the Fiesta Bowl. That loss started an eight game losing streak for ND, one in which the Irish have been outscored 275-143!
Texas, the defending national champions, open at No. 3 (8) and will host Ohio State in the first “showdown game” of the season on Sept. 9. Auburn (6) starts at No. 4, West Va (6) at No. 5 and USC (3) at No. 6. Completing the top 10 are Florida, LSU, Cal and Oklahoma.
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