Ness Notes for August 21
The Seahawks beat the Colts last night at Indy 30-17 and the Raiders had three straight wins this preseason when they beat the 49ers 23-7 in Oakland. The Colts have now lost eight straight preseason games (2-6 ATS), matching the Chiefs’ eight-game slip (0-8 ATS). The 49ers saw their five-game ATS winning streak interrupted last night (it was just 3-2 SU), leaving the Giants with the longest active winning streak in five (both SU and ATS).
My free game for Monday is at the Oak A’s over the Tor Blue Jays at 7:05 ET. After a weekend of 7-2 in all sports (Friday-Sunday), I open the new week in MLB with an exclusive Las Vegas Insider (5-1 since August 5). In NFLX, I continue my 5-1 run in Week 2 (5-0 on the sides by a combined 132-23 winning margin!) With my 15 * Monday Night Delight!
The Cowboys will visit the Saints tonight in Shreveport for MNF on ESPN (8:00 ET). Dallas will run a four-game preseason winning streak (both SU and ATS) in the contest, after opening with a 13-3 victory in Week 1 in Seattle. The Saints, at just 8-12 SU and 7-12-1 ATS the past five years in preseason, also won their first game of Week 1, beating the Titans 19-16 at Tennessee. The Cowboys are favored by three points with a total of 35.
Home teams are 8-7 SU and ATS in Week 2 (only tonight’s game left), with eight of the 15 games over the total. Things can change quickly in any sport (any time of year) and we are reminding ourselves of that this weekend. After two more under players on Thursday, under bettors were on a 15-4 streak to open this year’s preseason. However, eight of the last 13 games have been beaten.
Six teams have scored 30 points or more since Friday, after only the Jaguars scored that many in their 31-26 Week 1 win over the Dolphins in the first 19 preseason games. The Bengals beat the Bills in Buffalo on Friday 44-31. It is the highest-scoring game yet (75 points) and the Bengals’ 44 points are the most for any team to date.
MLB Ratings
In 1978 it was called the “Boston Massacre” and with one game to play in the Yankees / Red Sox five-game series (today 1:05 ET), it is shaping up to be the “Boston Massacre, Part 2” . In the first three games of the series, the Yankees scored a total of 39 runs, as the Boston starters allowed 24 hits and 20 runs in just 13.2 innings. Last night, Curt Schilling went seven innings allowing just three runs and went with a 5-3 lead.
However, Boston’s bullpen allowed single runs in the eighth and ninth innings (tying run scored with two outs!) And two more in the 10th, when the Yankees won again, 5-3. Boston’s bullpen, over four games, has allowed 28 hits, 16 walks and 23 ER in 16.1 innings (12.67)! The Yankees have now extended their lead in the AL East to five and a half games, the season-high. Monday’s headlines are Cory Lidle and David Wells.
While the Boston staff gave us plenty of pitches over the weekend, the Angels’ Jered Weaver won his ninth game without a loss on Friday night (12 ML starts) when he beat the Mariners 3-0. Now 9-0 with a 1.95 ERA, he joins Whitey Ford as the only AL rookie to open his career at 9-0.
Johan Santana defeated the White Sox in Minnesota 7-3 yesterday, improving his record to 13-0 in his last 20 starts at the Metrodome (since August 6, 2005). The Twins have won each of those games, becoming the first team in the modern era (since 1900) to win 20 consecutive home games that were started by a particular pitcher. His ERA during that 20-game stretch is 2.03.
The Mets won their fourth straight game Sunday (2-0) behind Orlando Hernandez. Interestingly, the Mets had started the week losing Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Philadelphia, by the combined score of 27-4. The team’s four-game winning streak is the longest of any team in MLB, but more importantly, the Mets are 14 games above the Phillies in the NL East, easily the largest margin of any division leader. The Tigers and Yankees lead their divisions by 5 1/2 games.
Hernandez improved his record with the Mets to 7-5 and since El Duque’s first start for the Mets (May 28), he and Steve Trachsel have a combined 17-6 record in 30 starts. During that span, Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine’s projected double hit is 8-8 in 25 starts. Who should start Game 1 and Game 2 for the Mets when playoff time comes?
The Angels are tied with the Mets for four straight wins, as they completed a weekend sweep over the Mariners on Sunday, 3-2. The Mariners have the longest active losing streak in MLB at 11 in a row, but that’s not half the story. Seattle completed its 0-11 tour with Sunday’s loss in Anaheim. Since 1977 (the Mariners’ inaugural season), only one other major league team has had a winless road trip of at least 11 games. In 1989, the Tigers were swept on an 11-game swing through Toronto, Boston and Kansas City.
Sunday’s loss extended Seattle’s unprecedented losing streak against opponents in the AL West Division to 20 games (the longest for any team within its division since the start of divisional play in 1969). Seattle is 10-32 against the AL West in 2005. Neither the Angels, the Mets nor the Mariners play on Monday. Monday’s schedule is pretty light with only 10 games on the card. All but the Yankees / Red Sox game will be played under the lights.
The marquee showdown is, of course, the start of a four-game series between the White Sox and Tigers in Detroit (7:05 ET). Chicago swept a three-game series off Detroit from Aug. 11-13 at US Cellular Field to move within 5 1/2 games of the division-leading Tigers, and has managed to maintain a deficit at that figure despite losing. four out of seven since then. Serie.
Contreras (11-5, 3.78 ERA) pitched a hat-trick against the Tigers on Aug. 8. 11 and posted the first shutout of his career in a 5-0 win. He is 3-1 with a 1.45 ERA in four starts against Detroit this season and 8-3 with a 3.01 ERA in 15 career starts against the Tigers. However, after winning 17 straight decisions dating back to last year, he is 2-5 with a 4.63 ERA in his last eight starts overall.
Detroit will send Verlander (14-6, 3.14) to the mound to open this series. He is 0-3 with a 9.88 ERA in three starts against the White Sox this season, including a loss to Contreras on Aug. 1. 11 when he allowed five runs and 13 hits in five innings.
CFB Notes
The AP preseason poll was released over the weekend and, like the coaches poll that’s been available for a couple of weeks, Ohio State will start as the top-ranked team in the nation. It’s Ohio State’s first preseason No. 1 ranking since 1998 and the seventh time in school history (Oklahoma leads with nine preseason No. 1s). Ohio State fans will hope that history does not repeat itself, as the Buckeyes have never won a national title after opening as the top-ranked team in the nation.
Troy Smith returns as QB and led Ohio State on a seven-game winning streak at the end of the season (7-0 ATS). The Buckeyes averaged 38 points per game during that run, and Smith capped the season by throwing for 642 yards in wins over Michigan (25-21) and Notre Dame (34-20 at the Fiesta Bowl). Offense won’t be a problem for Ohio State, but the defense must replace NINE starters, including first-round linebacker of NFL draft picks AJ Hawk (No. 5 to GB), safety Donte Whitner (No. 8 to Buffalo) and LB Bobby Carpenter (No. 18 to Dallas).
Ohio State received by far the most first-place votes (35 of 65), but six teams received at least one, the most since 11 schools received first-place votes in 1984. Notre Dame (10 ) will start as No. 2, the school’s best performance since he opened No. 2 in 1994. By the way, ND fans, the Irish finished 6-5-1 that year and were unranked, after losing 41-24 against Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl. That loss started an eight-game losing streak for ND, one in which the Irish have been outscored 275-143!
Defending national champion Texas opens at No. 3 (8) and will host Ohio State in the first “showdown game” of the season on September 9. Auburn (6) starts at No. 4, West Va (6) at No. 5 and USC (3) at No. 6. Rounding out the top 10 are Florida, LSU, Cal and Oklahoma.
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