Colon to return as Angels battle Mariners

Baseball Betting Lines

04/21/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon makes his first major-league start in nine months tonight for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who will be vying for a second straight home victory over the Seattle Mariners.

Colon received the American League's top pitching honor in 2005 after winning a career-high 21 games and posting a 3.48 earned run average in 33 starts. However, the hard-throwing Dominican has battled shoulder problems since that year's postseason. He was limited to only 10 starts last season because of a partial rotator cuff tear and hasn't pitched in a major-league game since July 26, 2006, when he allowed four runs in only one inning of work against Tampa Bay.

The ace right-hander appears to be finally healthy, however. Colon threw 95 pitches in a rehab start for Triple-A Salt Lake on Sunday and did not allow a run over seven innings.

Colon owns a 10-8 record with a 4.32 ERA in 22 lifetime starts against Seattle and notched his only win of last season at the expense of the Mariners. That came on July 5 at Safeco Field, when the 33-year-old threw a four-hit shutout in a 4-0 decision.

He will be opposed tonight by Horacio Ramirez, who was a victor in his official Mariners' debut. The former Atlanta Brave did give up five runs, only one of which was earned, to Texas on Sunday, but received plenty of offensive support in Seattle's 14-5 triumph.

Ramirez, who was acquired in an offseason trade with Atlanta in exchange for reliever Rafael Soriano, had pitched in an April 6th game at Cleveland and nearly received a loss. However, the game was called due to heavy snow with the Indians leading 4-0 in the top of the fifth inning and one out away from the contest becoming official.

The left-handed Ramirez has only faced the Angels once previously. He defeated the Halos in Atlanta on June 7, 2005 after yielding only two runs and five hits over eight strong innings.

The Angels received a big lift from starting pitcher Joe Saunders in Friday's opener of this three-game series, as the young left-hander threw six shutout innings to give his club a much-needed 8-4 victory.

Saunders (2-0), a former hurler from Virginia Tech who was pitching for the first time since Monday's tragedy at the university, scattered seven hits and two walks to help the Angels stop a six-game losing streak. He received plenty of offensive support as well.

Vladimir Guerrero, playing for the first time since being hit on his right wrist by a pitch Monday at Boston, had a solo home run, single and double on the evening. Casey Kotchman also had three hits and drove in a run, while Garret Anderson finished with a pair of hits with an RBI and scored three times. Mike Napoli added a solo homer for Los Angeles.

Raul Ibanez stroked a two-run double and former Angel Jose Guillen went 2- for-4 for Seattle, which suffered its fourth consecutive defeat.

Mariners starter Miguel Batista (1-2) absorbed the loss after allowing 10 hits and six runs over six innings.

The Angels took 10 of their 19 matchups with the Mariners last season and hold a 33-25 edge in the series since the start of the 2004 campaign. The Mariners split their 10 visits to Anaheim last year, but have now dropped five straight games at Angel Stadium.

Wwwsportinglife Baseball Betting News

<< Zito takes hill for streaking Giants against D-Backs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barry Zito tries to build upon his first National League win when the San Francisco Giants continue their three-game set with the Arizona Diamondbacks this afternoon at AT&T Park. After getting banged around a b

<< Red Sox, Yanks ready for round two
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox got the better of the New York Yankees when the hated foes renewed their bitter rivalry last night. Now the Bronx Bombers aim to even the score and rebound from a surprising late-inning loss when t

<< Ex-Cardinal Marquis to face former club for Cubs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Marquis faces his former team for the first time this afternoon, when the Chicago Cubs continue their three-game set with the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field. Marquis, who spent the last three seasons

<< Tigers' Robertson gets shot at ending ChiSox' streak
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox attempt to continue their best stretch of the young season when the streaking club plays the second of three consecutive games with the rival Detroit Tigers this afternoon at Comerica Park.

<< Fourth-seeded Jazz open playoffs at No. 5 Houston
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz have returned to the postseason, as the teams will battle tonight at the Toyota Center in Game 1 of the first round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs. This is a best-of-seven series. Game 2

Indians try to continue mastery of Devil Rays >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Byrd hopes for a repeat performance of his first official start of the season when the veteran takes the mound tonight for the Cleveland Indians, who play the second of three straight contests with the Tampa B

Nationals vie to hand Marlins unlucky seventh >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins will try and avoid their seventh straight loss this evening, when they play the second of a three-game set against the Washington Nationals at Dolphin Stadium. In Friday's opener of this s

Astros go for another win in Milwaukee >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Left-hander Wandy Rodriguez will once again try for his first victory in nearly 10 months tonight, when the Houston Astros visit the Milwaukee Brewers for the middle test of a three-game series at Miller Park. Rodrig

Rangers try to shake off lopsided loss to surging A's >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Towering right-hander Kameron Loe makes his first start of the season in a replacement role tonight for the Texas Rangers, who host the Oakland Athletics in the middle game of a weekend series at Rangers Ballpark. Loe,

High-scoring Padres square off again with Rockies >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Clay Hensley shoots for his first win of the season when the San Diego Padres continue their three-game set with the Colorado Rockies this evening at Coors Field. Hensley will be trying to bounce back from an absol

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.