Rangers turn to Lee for opener of key set with Angels

Baseball Betting Lines

07/22/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- The Texas Rangers acquired Cliff Lee to help end the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's reign of dominance in the American League West. The All-Star hurler gets his first crack at the three-time defending division champions since his blockbuster trade to Texas when the first-place Rangers return home tonight to begin a critical four-game series between these two rivals.

The Rangers made the biggest in-season move of the summer when they obtained Lee from the Seattle Mariners in a six-player swap on July 9. Not only did Texas get the front-line pitcher the team had been seeking to head its rotation, but a player who's had considerable success when opposing the Angels over the past few years.

Lee has won his last four starts against Anaheim, including a May 28 triumph while with the Mariners in which he yielded three runs (two earned) and struck out 10 over eight sharp innings, and owns a 6-3 record with a 3.18 earned run average in nine lifetime encounters with the Halos.

The two-time All-Star and 2008 AL Cy Young Award honoree hasn't been nearly as good pitching at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, however. Lee has produced a subpar 7.33 ERA in eight starts at his new home and struggled there in his Texas debut back on July 10. Facing the last-place Baltimore Orioles, the standout lefty allowed six runs and served up three homers in a complete-game loss.

Lee was back in form this past Saturday, when he held Boston to two runs and six hits over nine innings at Fenway Park. The 31-year-old still wasn't able to garner his first victory with his new club, though, with the Red Sox eventually prevailing in 11 innings that night.

In 15 overall starts with the Rangers and Mariners, Lee has produced an 8-4 record and a 2.59 ERA that currently tops the American League.

The Angels counter Lee's presence with their own staff ace, as Jered Weaver has been lined up to pitch tonight's opener. The right-hander garnered his first career All-Star nod with an excellent first half and enters this evening's clash off another strong performance in his most recent time out.

Against Seattle on Friday, Weaver surrendered just two runs and did not walk a batter over seven effective innings in leading the Halos to a 3-2 verdict. The effort improved the former first-round draft pick's 2010 ledger to 9-5 and lowered his ERA to a very-solid 3.16 over 20 starts.

Weaver also turned in a gem against the Rangers back on July 1, limiting Texas to two hits and a pair of walks through seven shutout frames to notch another win. He's 5-3 lifetime versus the Rangers and has pitched to a 3.62 ERA in 16 meetings with tonight's foe.

Like Lee, Weaver has had his problems when operating at Rangers Ballpark, however. The 27-year-old is just 1-3 with a 4.59 over eight career visits to Arlington and the Angels have been dealt defeats in each of his last six starts there. In a road matchup with Texas on May 18, Weaver was tagged for a season-high seven runs and gave up three homers before being lifted after 4 2/3 innings.

Anaheim enters this important set trailing the Rangers by five games in the standings and missed out on an opportunity to close the gap on Wednesday. The club suffered a 10-6 setback to the AL East-leading New York Yankees, with the reigning world champions battering Angels pitching for three home runs and a total of 15 hits.

Joel Pineiro (10-7) permitted six runs and 11 of those hits over the first six innings to have a string of seven consecutive winning decisions snapped. The Yankees later broke open the contest by scoring four times off Scot Shields in the seventh, with the veteran reliever allowing a pair of homers in his lone inning of work.

"Momentum changes are very evident in a game," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said afterward. "Give [the Yankees] some credit. They swung the bat well and [Scot] Shields couldn't get through the seventh inning and obviously put the game in a little different light."

Ex-Yankee Hideki Matsui and Bobby Wilson each had two-run homers for Anaheim, which was coming off a 10-2 rout of the Yankees on Tuesday and had won four of five out of the All-Star break before faltering yesterday.

The Rangers also lost on Wednesday, with Detroit's Max Scherzer firing seven shutout innings to lead the Tigers to a 4-1 decision at Comerica Park that stopped Texas' three-game win streak.

The AL West front-runners mustered a mere four hits for the game, with Josh Hamilton's RBI ground out in the ninth inning preventing a potential shutout.

"We felt flat in the dugout. Don't know why we felt that way," Hamilton admitted afterward. "We weren't in the game as much from the start as we needed to be. That's something we can't do, especially if you want to make the postseason, be there at the end."

Colby Lewis (9-6) did turn in seven innings for the Rangers in a losing cause, with the right-hander reached for four runs on nine hits and recording five strikeouts.

Texas owns a 3-2 edge thus far in this year's season series and swept a two- game set from the Angels in Arlington back in May. Anaheim has lost in eight of 11 visits to Rangers Ballpark since the start of last season.

Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds

Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it. Work left to do: Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney. Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson. Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable. Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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