Twins hope to continue offensive onslaught in Kansas City

Baseball Betting Lines

07/28/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With their offense producing runs at an incredible rate, the Minnesota Twins set their sights on a fifth straight victory as well as a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals when the American League Central foes square off this afternoon at Kauffman Stadium.

After overwhelming the Royals by a 19-1 count in Monday's opener of this set, the Twins continued their recent scoring binge in another lopsided win last night. Minnesota pounded out 19 hits in its 11-2 rout of the Royals, with Danny Valencia going 4-for-5 with three RBI to lead the charge.

Joe Mauer, coming off a 5-for-5, seven-RBI performance in Monday's game, doubled twice and knocked in a pair of runs to help the Twins improve to 9-3 since the All-Star break. Michael Cuddyer and J.J. Hardy each contributed three hits and two RBI to Tuesday's triumph.

The Twins entered this series off a 10-4 win at Baltimore on Sunday, with yesterday's result marking the first team the club has scored in double digits three straight times since June 11-13, 1967.

"I think [the Twins are] the best hitting team in the American League," said Royals pitcher Bruce Chen after Tuesday's test. "They're good. I know they have some guys hurt, but they're still pretty good. I felt like I made good pitches."

Chen (5-5) allowed the first six Minnesota runs and a total of 11 hits over the first 5 1/3 innings to take the loss. His counterpart, Carl Pavano, was considerably better, as the resurgent right-hander limited the Royals to one run in five innings of work in posting his eighth straight winning decision.

Pavano is now 13-6 on the season, tied with the New York Yankees' CC Sabathia and Tampa Bay's David Price for the most wins in the AL.

Valencia has been on quite a roll as well lately. The rookie infielder had four hits, including a grand slam, in Monday's contest and has gone 8-for-9 with seven RBI so far in the series.

"It's been a great time for me," he said. "It's been a great time for the team. We've been winning and you couldn't ask for anything more.

Minnesota remained one game behind the Chicago White Sox, who defeated Seattle on Tuesday, in the race for first place in the AL Central with last night's verdict.

The Twins go for the sweep today behind Brian Duensing, who showed in his first 2010 start he can be as effective in that role as he's been for the team in relief this season.

In his first outing since being inserted into the Minnesota rotation in place of a struggling Nick Blackburn, Duensing held Baltimore to a run on four hits over five solid innings this past Friday. He left the game with a 2-1 lead, but wound up with a no-decision when the Orioles scored against the Twins' bullpen later on.

Prior to that performance, Duensing compiled a 3-1 record with a sensational 1.67 earned run average in 39 relief appearances for the year. The left-hander also did well when called upon to start in 2009, going 5-1 with a 2.73 ERA in nine such assignments, and beat the Royals by tossing five innings of two-run ball at Kauffman Stadium last August.

In eight overall encounters with Kansas City, Duensing is 2-0 with a 4.85 ERA.

The Royals hand the ball to Brian Bannister today and hope the inconsistent right-hander can continue his usual success in day games. The 29-year-old is 4-1 with a very solid 3.05 ERA in seven afternoon starts this season, compared to a 2-6 mark and 7.10 ERA at night, and sports an excellent 21-9 overall record in the day over the course of his career.

Bannister enters this afternoon's tilt in a slump, however, having lost in three consecutive starts and producing a subpar 0-4 record and 7.07 ERA over his last five mound trips. He's permitted four runs or more in each of those games.

The former University of Southern California standout did best the Twins at Kauffman Stadium on April 25 -- a game which took place in the day -- by yielding two runs over 6 1/3 innings. Lifetime against Minnesota, Bannister is 4-4 with a 4.09 ERA over 11 starts.

Kansas City has now lost five of its last six games and continues to have trouble against the Twins. Minnesota is 8-3 against the Royals this year and has taken 16 of the last 20 overall meetings between the teams. The Twins are also 18-5 at Kauffman Stadium since the start of the 2008 season.

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Super Bowl XLIII, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.

The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.

The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.

Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.

MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:

Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)

Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)

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