Boston's Wakefield aims for win No. 17 in Baltimore

Baseball Betting Lines

09/06/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Wakefield targets win No. 17 this evening when the Boston Red Sox open a four-game series with the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.

Wakefield, who is one victory off the pace of major league leaders Chien-Ming Wang and teammate Josh Beckett, has won his last three starts without giving up a run, but has not pitched since August 25 because of a sore back. He scattered three hits against the Chicago White Sox over seven scoreless innings in that one, as he ran his scoreless innings streak to 22 frames.

The 41-year-old knuckleballer, who is 16-10 with a 4.16 earned run average on the year, has also recorded a decision in all of his 26 starts this season and is the first to do so since Jack McDowell posted decisions in his first 27 starts with the White Sox in 1993.

Wakefield defeated the O's the last time he faced them and is 14-13 lifetime against them with four saves and a 4.06 ERA in 43 games, 30 of which have been starts.

Boston enters tonight's tilt on a sour note after it was denied a sweep in its three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays, dropping a 6-4 decision in Wednesday's finale at Fenway Park. Jason Varitek hit a two-run homer for the Red Sox, who had a four-game win streak broken and saw their lead in the AL East shrink to six games over the New York Yankees.

Hideki Okajima (3-2) took the loss, while Curt Schilling allowed three runs and eight hits, with a walk and two strikeouts over six innings in the start.

Baltimore, meanwhile, continued to struggle and was crushed by the equally woeful Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Wednesday, 17-2, in the finale of a three-game set at Tropicana Field. Tike Redman doubled in two runs for the Orioles, who have lost 13 of their last 15 games, a stretch that began with a major-league record- setting 30-3 loss to Texas in the first game of a doubleheader on August 22.

Radhames Liz (0-2), in his third major league start, surrendered six hits and four runs through 1 2/3 innings.

Getting the call for the Orioles tonight will be 23-year-old lefty Garrett Olson, who is 1-3 with a 7.22 ERA. Olson was tagged with the loss on Saturday against the Red Sox, as he surrendered four runs and seven his in 5 1/3 innings. He has lost both of his starts to Boston this season.

Boston has won nine of its 14 matchups with the Orioles this season and is 34-16 in the series since the start of the 2005 campaign. The Red Sox have also had success in Baltimore, where they have won in 13 of their last 17 visits.

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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."

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