Mets, Marlins square off in Puerto Rico

Baseball Betting Lines

06/28/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Though the Marlins are being designated as the home team for this three-game series in San Juan, Puerto Rico, it is the Mets who have a number of players that are set to take the field in their native country.

As Major League Baseball continues to expand its global reach, Florida and New York will do battle tonight at Hiram Bithorn Stadium, which will host a major league regular-season game for the first time since 2004.

While the majors are no stranger to Puerto Rico, this set marks the first time the country will host a regular-season game since the Montreal Expos played part of their home schedule there in 2003 and 2004. Both the Mets and Marlins took on the Expos during that time and Hiram Bithorn Stadium has since played host to a number of World Baseball Classic games as well as some major league spring training contests.

Though the Marlins currently have no Puerto Rican-born players on their active roster, they will likely have some support given that Edwin Rodriguez became the first Puerto Rican-born manager in league history when he took over for a fired Fredi Gonzalez on an interim basis last week.

Meanwhile, this series marks a trip home for a handful of Mets players, including Angel Pagan, Alex Cora, Jesus Feliciano and Pedro Feliciano. A fifth native son, Carlos Beltran, won't make the trip as he is still recovering from right knee surgery.

Pagan hasn't played since Wednesday due to right rib cage ailment, but he is expected to be back in center field for this contest.

"This is a great opportunity to represent Puerto Rico and the Mets organization," Pagan told the Mets' official website prior to this past weekend. "I'm looking forward to it. The people in Puerto Rico are looking forward to it. It's going to be great for our country."

The presence of Pagan and his fellow countrymen could give the Mets plenty of support in the stands despite this being a road game. New York will take any advantage it can get as it is now just a half-game back of Atlanta for first place in the National League East following Sunday's 6-0 victory over Minnesota.

After getting shutout by the Twins by the same score on Saturday, Jon Niese hurled six-plus scoreless innings, while Jeff Francoeur, David Wright and Ike Davis also hit home runs in helping the Mets win for the fourth time in six games and wrap interleague play with a club-record 13-5 mark.

R.A. Dickey gets a chance to pitch the Mets into first place this evening and extend his career-best six-start winning streak in the process. The knuckleballer has allowed more than two runs in just two of his seven starts with New York, going 6-0 with a 2.33 earned run average.

The 35-year-old righty hurled a season-high eight scoreless innings on Wednesday versus the Tigers, holding them to four hits and two walks.

Dickey beat the Marlins on June 4, allowing three runs over 6 1/3 innings and improving to 2-1 against them with a 6.43 ERA in four games, including two starts.

Florida is coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of the Padres and it managed just three runs in the series. Sunday's 4-2 setback was the Marlins' fourth in a row, tying a season high.

Starter Anibal Sanchez allowed just two runs -- one earned -- in six-plus innings, but the bullpen yielded a deciding two-run homer in the eighth inning.

"I think today's game was lost because we didn't score enough runs, not because we didn't pitch well enough," said Chris Coghlan on Florida's website. "I know people want to blame it on the bullpen, but we didn't score enough."

That isn't good news for starter Ricky Nolasco, who is 1-0 in three starts versus the Mets this year despite a 4.00 ERA and 4-6 against them lifetime with a 5.58 ERA in 18 games, 16 starts.

The right-hander snapped a two-start slide on Wednesday versus the Orioles despite allowing four runs on eight hits over seven innings. He also struck out eight in the 7-5 triumph that improved him to 6-6 with a 4.92 ERA this season.

Wright is 4-for-8 against the 27-year-old Nolasco this year with a pair of RBI and is a career .386 (17-for-44) batter against him.

The Marlins have won six of 10 versus the Mets this year, but New York notched a three-game sweep when the clubs last met in the Big Apple from June 4-6.

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Will Ohio State continue to run the table in College Football betting odds?
MySportsbook.com favors Buckeyes, Fighting Irish and Golden Bears in this weekend's big games.

NEW YORK, NY, Sept. 21 - My Sportsbook NCAA football fans: things are beginning to get really interesting on college football's national stage. Following last weekend's "Separation Saturday", which included five teams ranked in the top 15 dropping games, the BCS Championship picture is beginning to take shape - with Ohio State leading the charge. And, according to odds makers at MySportsbook.com, the number-one-ranked Buckeyes will continue their winning ways this weekend.

Revenge will be the name of the game in Columbus this Saturday, as Ohio State looks to even the score following last season's loss to Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions. Although Penn State are listed as 16.5 point underdogs, they are 11-10 all-time versus the Buckeyes. Paterno and the Lions, however, will have to shut down Heisman Trophy favorite Troy Smith who has thrown for 769 yards and seven touchdowns this season.

Speaking of revenge, Notre Dame will be out for some against Michigan State, following last year's 44 - 41 overtime loss to the Spartans in South Bend. The thirteenth-ranked Irish, listed as a 3-point favorite, will also be looking to avenge last Saturday's thrashing from the Michigan Wolverines. The Spartans, meanwhile, have won seven of the last nine match-ups against Notre Dame and are coming off an impressive 38-23 victory over Pittsburgh.

Out west, 22nd-ranked Arizona State will be battling for their first victory over 21st-ranked California since 2000. Although the Golden Bears are listed as 7.5-point favorites, the Sun Devils are 3-0, lead the nation in sacks with 18 and possess the Pac-10's leading passer in sophomore quarterback Rudy Carpenter.

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NCAA Football betting lines (home team in CAPS)
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Date Favorite Opponent Point Spread
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Sept 21 GEORGIA TECH Virginia 17
Sept 22 NEVADA Northwestern 6.5
Sept 23 MICHIGAN Wisconsin 14
Sept 23 Minnesota PURDUE 3
Sept 23 SYRACUSE Miami (Ohio) 6.5
Sept 23 MISSOURI Ohio 21.5
Sept 23 Louisville KANSAS STATE 14
Sept 23 TENNESSEE Marshall 22
Sept 23 CLEMSON North Carolina 16.5
Sept 23 FLORIDA Kentucky 24
Sept 23 Iowa ILLINOIS 20.5
Sept 23 FLORIDA STATE Rice 30.5
Sept 23 AUBURN Buffalo 41.5
Sept 23 BOWLING GREEN Kent 7
Sept 23 NAVY Tulsa 4.5
Sept 23 VIRGINIA TECH Cincinnati 27
Sept 23 BYU Utah State 29
Sept 23 OHIO STATE Penn State 16.5
Sept 23 TEXAS Iowa State 25
Sept 23 Washington State STANFORD 10
Sept 23 CALIFORNIA Arizona State 7.5
Sept 23 UCLA WASHINGTON 3
Sept 23 INDIANA Connecticut 1.5
Sept 23 Central Michigan EASTERN MICHIGAN 4
Sept 23 WYOMING Air Force 1
Sept 23 UTEP NEW MEXICO 9.5
Sept 23 West Virginia EAST CAROLINA 21
Sept 23 Boston College NORTH CAROLINA STATE 7
Sept 23 GEORGIA Colorado 27
Sept 23 ARKANSAS Alabama 1.5
Sept 23 BAYLOR Army 11
Sept 23 WESTERN MICHIGAN Temple 28
Sept 23 MISSISSIPPI Wake Forest 2.5
Sept 23 KANSAS South Florida 5.5
Sept 23 TEXAS A&amp;M Louisiana Tech 23.5
Sept 23 UAB Mississippi State 9.5
Sept 23 LSU Tulane 36
Sept 23 Utah SAN DIEGO STATE 6.5
Sept 23 BOISE STATE Hawaii 15
Sept 23 Notre Dame MICHIGAN STATE 3
Sept 23 USC ARIZONA U 22
Sept 23 Oklahoma State HOUSTON 1
Sept 23 OREGON STATE Idaho 23
Sept 23 OKLAHOMA Middle Tennessee State 29
Sept 23 MARYLAND Florida International 18.5
Sept 23 AKRON North Texas 17.5
Sept 23 SOUTH CAROLINA Florida Atlantic 29.5
Sept 23 NEBRASKA Troy 23
Sept 23 SMU Arkansas State 6

For complete NCAA football odds and World Series odds please visit MySportsbook.com