Sabathia on mound as Yankees finish first homestand at new stadium

Baseball Betting Lines

04/22/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first-ever homestand at the new Yankee Stadium comes to a close with this afternoon's finale of an abbreviated two-game series between the Bronx Bombers and the Oakland Athletics.

After splitting a four-game set with Cleveland to christen their extravagant new ballpark, the Yankees moved over .500 on the residency by coming through with a 5-3 victory over Oakland last night. The win was the eighth in 12 games for New York since starting the season with a pair of losses in Baltimore.

Andy Pettitte (2-0) shined in his regular-season debut at this version of Yankee Stadium, with the veteran lefty holding the Athletics to two runs and scattering nine hits over the first seven innings. Another longtime Yankee, Mariano Rivera, tossed a scoreless ninth to record his fourth save of the young season.

Johnny Damon finished 2-for-5 with a homer and two runs batted in to pace New York offensively, while Brett Gardner delivered a two-RBI single during a four-run second inning that propelled the Yankees to their latest win.

Oakland starter Dana Eveland (0-1) was dealt the loss after allowing four runs on nine hits and walking four batters in just four innings of work.

Kurt Suzuki went 4-for-4 with an RBI single for Oakland, which lost for the third straight time, while Mark Ellis knocked home a pair of runs on the evening.

Ex-Yankee Jason Giambi ended 1-for-4 with a run scored in his first game in the Bronx since returning to Oakland as a free agent this offseason. The former American League MVP spent the past seven seasons in pinstripes after bolting the A's via free agency following the 2001 campaign.

The power-hitting first baseman and his Oakland teammates will be taking their swings this afternoon off one of the Yankees' marquee offseason additions, as CC Sabathia makes his fourth start with his new club in today's finale.

Sabathia, lured to New York with a seven-year, $161 million deal in December, struggled badly in an Opening Day loss at Baltimore but has pitched considerably better over his last two outings. The high-priced left-hander earned his first win as a Yankee by tossing 7 2/3 shutout innings against Kansas City on April 11, then routinely worked out of trouble in a no-decision against one of his former teams, the Cleveland Indians, last Thursday.

The 2007 AL Cy Young Award winner walked five Indians and lasted just 5 2/3 innings in Thursday's start, but limited his ex-mates to just one run before exiting.

Sabathia, a native of the Bay Area, has not had much success when facing his hometown Athletics over the course of his nine-year career. The 28-year-old is just 3-7 in 15 lifetime starts against Oakland and has compiled a subpar 6.12 earned run average in those games.

The Athletics will send out highly-regarded rookie Brett Anderson, who takes another stab at attempting to record his first major-league win. The 21-year- old pitched well enough to accomplish the feat a week ago, when he held Boston to two runs and five hits over seven strong innings, but received no offensive support in an eventual 8-2 Oakland loss.

Anderson, tabbed as the No. 7 overall prospect by Baseball America heading into this season, made his big-league debut on April 10 and was dealt a loss by Seattle after giving up five runs through six frames. This will be the young lefty's first-ever road start.

The Yankees have won five straight meetings with the A's and swept a three- game set in Oakland's final trip to the old Yankee Stadium last July.

Following today's contest, New York will visit Boston on Friday for three consecutive clashes with the rival Red Sox.

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FOOTBALL BETTING : Cassel Signs Contract

Kansas City, MO - Kansas City has not officially named Matt Cassel its starting quarterback, but there can be no doubt now.

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After praising his leadership and work ethic through spring workouts, the Chiefs announced Tuesday they had signed the 27-year-old Cassel to a multiyear contract. Terms were not disclosed, but he will almost certainly be one of the highest-paid members of the team.
"We are excited to be able to reach a long-term agreement for Matt Cassel to be a Kansas City Chief for many years to come," owner and board chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement. "His proven leadership on and off the field will be a tremendous asset to the organization."
Patriots made him their franchise player, meaning his salary for this season will be about $15 million.
New head coach Todd Haley, taking over for Herm Edwards after a 2-14 season, refused to name a starter at any position during offseason workouts. But it was obvious to everyone the team belonged to Cassel.
"I go out there each and every day with that focus that I'm the starter," Cassel said during a June minicamp. "Competition brings out the best in everybody."
The signing will come as welcome news to Cassel's new coaches and teammates. Amiable and hardworking, online football betting he appeared to win over everyone at minicamp.
"I think he's got some unique leadership qualities. I think his teammates like him and have respect for him. I think he's doing a pretty good job on the field, too," Haley said last month. "He's doing everything that I'm asking him, that our coaches are asking him to do. I don't have one single complaint how he's carrying himself."
After one workout, wide receiver Devard Darling declared Cassel "a breath of fresh air."
"He has a lot of swagger, a lot of confidence. It's good for us," said Darling. "We trust in him that he's going to go out there and lead us all the way."
nse to accommodate his specific abilities.
Trapped on the bench behind Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC and then unable to unseat Super Bowl MVP Brady at New England, Cassel seemed destined to be a backup all his life. As Brady was helped off the field last September, Cassel seized the opportunity he'd been waiting for since high school.
In his only sustained action since his teens, he hit 349 of 555 passes for 3,949 yards at New England. He had 23 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions as the Patriots, who had gone unbeaten through the regular season the year before, finished 11-5 and out of the playoffs.
Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, who had been Bill Belichick's assistant in New England, engineered the trade after the Patriots became convinced that Brady would recover fully from his knee operation.
"Since Matt arrived in Kansas City, he has embraced the team and the community," Pioli said. "His work ethic, his ability and competitive presence is what we expect from our players."

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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