Sunday night, the Atlanta Braves clinched the National League Wild Card race by holding off the Philadelphia Phillies while the San Francisco Giants held the San Diego Padres off in order to clinch the National League West division title.  With everything set in stone, the 2010 MLB playoffs can now begin.

The 2010 MLB playoffs will begin this Wednesday, October 6, and will be between the Texas Rangers and the Tampa Bay Rays.  The game will be held in Tampa Bay and is scheduled to start at 1:37 p.m. ET.  Tampa Bay hasn’t had the success in selling tickets at their home field as many other teams have but hopefully with the fact that they have won the American League East division title and with the Texas Rangers visiting they can actually sell some tickets to the first game of the playoff series this year. Continue Reading…

The San Diego Padres were not considered to be a contender this year by many people – even just a few days ago; however, after winning two games in a row against the San Francisco Giants the view of many have changed for the Padres.

Saturday night, the Padres defeated the Giants 4-2.  Now, going into Sunday’s game against the Giants, which will be the final game of their three-game series, which should be the end of the regular MLB season, the Padres are sitting at 90-71 with the Giants sitting at 91-70, which means that the Giants are a single game ahead of the Padres in the National League West division chase.  In addition, the Padres are tied with the Atlanta Braves for the lead in the National League Wild Card race due to the Braves losing against the Philadelphia Phillies Saturday night. Continue Reading…

Right now, both of these teams are trying to make it to the playoffs while the San Francisco Giants is trying to keep the lead over the San Diego Padres to capture a National League West division title, which they haven’t won since 2003.  The Padres are currently 3 games behind the division-leading Giants and are hoping to close in on that 3-game lead that the Giants have over them starting today when the Giants host the Padres for a three-game series – the final series of the regular season.

Popular Online Sportsbook Bodog has the Giants listed as -167 favorites on the money line for Friday’s game against the Padres. Continue Reading…

The teams heading into the playoffs may not be fully determined just yet but the World Series schedule has been finalized and announced by the MLB and FOX Thursday.  The start times have been revealed, which reveals a shocker – this year’s World Series schedule includes one of the earliest first pitches in almost 25 years since specifically 1987 – Game 6 from the Fall Classic that year.

The earliest first pitch is Game 3, which is scheduled to begin at 6:57 p.m. Eastern Standard Time with the American League hosting on Saturday, October 30.  So, this means that four stadiums could be the host – Rangers Ballpark, Yankee Stadium, Tropicana Field or Target Field – depending  on the teams that advance.  Continue Reading…

Early this month, the Colorado Rockies actually possibly had a chance to claim their very first National League West title but that possibility is out the door now.  They are going into tonight’s game in hopes that they can at least keep themselves in the playoffs.

Most oddsmakers currently have the Rockies listed as favorites for the Tuesday night game.  They are currently in third place for the wild-card race.  The Rockies are four games behind the San Diego Padres and four and a half games behind the Atlanta Braves. Continue Reading…

The Atlanta Braves will be playing at home this week for the final week of the 2010 MLB season and may just be what they need in order to bounce back from their awful road trip and gain success and be able to capture the National League wild card win.  The Braves are currently just a half a game behind the San Diego Padres to win the wild card despite losing five of the last six games on their recent road trip, which was a disaster with the New York Giants leading.

The Braves will hand over the ball to right-handed pitcher Tommy Hanson who will take the mound as the starting pitcher Monday night.  Hanson is currently 10-11 with an ERA of 3.51 for the season.  This season against the Marlins, he is 2-1 although his last start against Florida on August 27 resulted in a loss at which time he allowed seven runs and four home runs during five innings. Continue Reading…

Both the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies will be attempting to capture a win today at Citizens Bank Park.  The Phillies will be trying to capture their fourth consecutive NL East title and if they succeed in winning, it will be their 10th straight win and the Braves’ third consecutive loss.

Oddsmakers, including one of the most trusted online sportsbooks, Bodog Sportsbook, have the Phillies has -153 favorites on the moneyline. Continue Reading…

Sunday, the Atlanta Braves are looking to finish a three-game series finale against the New York Mets with a victory.  The Braves will attempt a sweep at Citi Field Sunday after losing their previous four series this year.

Bodog, online sportsbook, have the New York Mets as -110 moneyline favorites against the -110 Atlanta Braves.

The Braves will have Derek Lowe on the mound who is 13-12 with an earned run average of 4.22 overall but against the Mets this season, he is 0-2 with an earned run average of 2.95 in three starts.  All three of those games with Lowe as the starting pitcher were losses. Continue Reading…

Tonight, the Texas Rangers travel to play the Seattle Mariners for a three-game series.  The Rangers currently have a 10-game lead in the American League West division over Oakland.  The Rangers haven’t seen a division title in 11 years.  They are on a seven-game winning streak and are hoping to extend their streak.  They received their seventh consecutive win Wednesday when they defeated Detroit 11-7.

Bodog online sportsbook currently has the Seattle Mariners as favorites heading into Friday night’s series opener but not by far.  This is a double negative match-up.

Ace Felix Hernandez of the Mariners currently leads the league in earned run average at 2.39 and currently ranks second with 214 strikeouts.  He is currently 11-11 this season. Against the Rangers, the ace pitcher is 0-3 with an earned run average of 6.38 in his four starts this season.  In 26 starts for his career against the Rangers, he is 8-12 with an earned run average of 4.16.  This season, the Mariners have played 13 games against the Rangers and lost 10 of them.  Six of those games were played at home at Safeco Field with five of them being defeats.

Starting pitcher for the Rangers is C.J. Wilson who is currently 14-6 with an earned run average of 3.25 this season.  After two terrible outings, he is looking to set some reinforcement.  In two starts earlier this month, he allowed seven walks and 13 hits in 8 1/3 innings.  In his last start against Seattle, he pitched for three innings and was done.  He allowed six hits, four runs as well as four walks and was slipped by without a decision since Texas won 11-6.  He has participated in three games against Seattle this season and is 1-0 with an earned run average of 3.71.

While Texas is looking for their eight consecutive win, the Mariners will be looking to escape their eighth consecutive loss.  Since it’s a double negative match-up, it’s going to be a close game; however, despite Bodog online sportsbook, I personally think with the Rangers recent success have it in the bag.

It seems as if a lot of ex-Dolphins football players from linebackers and now quarterbacks are signing elsewhere from the Miami Dolphins.  But this time, this quarterback is headed for a completely different league – not only a different team but a totally different sport.

Friday, the Kansas City Royals made an official announcement that former Dolphins quarterback Pat White has signed with them.  That’s right – a former Dolphins player is headed to the Minor Leagues of baseball and leaving his “so-called” football career behind – signing a Minor League contract with the Royals. Continue Reading…