Rays, Red Sox start series at Fenway

Baseball Betting Lines

09/06/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays can deal the final blow to the Boston Red Sox' playoff hopes this week, as the American League East rivals open a three-game set at Fenway Park.

The Rays come into tonight's opener trailing the New York Yankees by 2 1/2 games in the American League East. The Red Sox, though, are 10 games back in the divisional race.

Boston did not help its cause any this weekend, as it was swept in a three- game set by the Chicago White Sox, losing both ends of a doubleheader on Saturday, then blowing a ninth-inning lead on Sunday before falling 7-5.

Victor Martinez hit a two-run homer and David Ortiz added a two-run double for the Red Sox, who stumbled to their sixth loss in eight contests.

Jonathan Papelbon (5-6) took the loss and was saddled with his seventh blown save of the year, charged with four runs and two hits with a pair of walks over 1 1/3 innings.

"We worked hard and went to the ninth with a two-run lead," said Boston manager Terry Francona. "We felt pretty good about ourselves. But then we walk away an hour later with a loss and it doesn't feel good."

Heading to the hill for the Red Sox tonight will be left-hander Jon Lester, who has won four of his last five starts. Lester beat the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday, but allowed five runs and eight hits in six innings. He is 15-8 on the year with a 3.27 ERA.

Lester beat the Rays two starts ago with a terrific effort and is 8-3 lifetime against them with a 3.86 ERA in 15 starts.

Tampa, meanwhile, failed to gain any ground on the Yankees on Sunday, as it dropped an 8-7 decision to the Baltimore Orioles in the finale of a three-game set.

Evan Longoria, B.J. Upton and Rocco Baldelli all hit two-run homers in defeat for the Rays, while Dan Wheeler (2-2) was charged with the loss after giving up two runs on two walks after getting just one out for Tampa Bay.

Getting the call for the Rays tonight will be righty Jeff Niemann, who has had two awful outings after a stint on the disabled list. After allowing 10 runs in 3 1/3 innings on August 25, Niemann was again charged with the loss last Tuesday against Toronto, which battered him for seven runs and seven hits in five innings.

Niemann, who is 10-5 on the year with a 3.97 ERA, is 2-1 in three starts against the Red Sox with a 3.94 ERA.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.