Bet Jamaica Daily Sports Roundup: September 6

September 5, 2008

There’s only one more Sprint Cup race before The Chase gets underway - and that’s the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 on Saturday night.  Here’s your Daily Sports Roundup . . .

Event of the day . . .

The drivers to watch on Saturday night will be those hovering around the cutoff line for the 2008 Chase - most notably Clint Bowyer, David Ragan, and Kasey Kahne. Bowyer currently holds down the 12th and final spot in the Sprint Cup Series playoffs; he’s got a 17-point lead on Ragan and a 48-point advantage on Kahne heading into this race.

That urgency has put Bowyer at 12/1 on the Vegas odds to win the Chevy Rock & Roll 400, with Kahne at 20/1, and Ragan farther back of those two at 35/1. Standings leader Kyle Busch is pegged as the 9/2 race favorite, with the surging Jimmie Johnson at 6/1, Denny Hamlin at 8/1, and both Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart following at 10/1.

Bowyer picked up the win in the Crown Royal 400 at Richmond back in May, while Johnson visited victory lane at Richmond twice in 2007. Stewart has three career Richmond wins, as does Dale Earnhardt Jr. (who is sitting at 12/1 odds for Saturday). Jeff Gordon (who is back at 18/1 odds) has picked up two Cup victories at Richmond.

Non-event of the day . . .

No. 13 Alabama got off to an impressive start to the season last week, handily knocking off Clemson by a score of 34-10. So what are Tulane’s chances of making a game of it at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday night? Not very good, according to the oddsmakers - the Crimson Tide are pegged as huge 30-point favorites in the contest.

Also on the schedule . . .

Brandon Webb (19-6, 3.19 ERA) gets another shot at his 20th win on Saturday when Arizona plays in Los Angeles; the Dodgers will start Chad Billingsley (13-10, 3.13 ERA). Also on tap around the National League: Philadelphia at the Mets, San Diego at Milwaukee, the Cubs at Cincinnati, Washington at Atlanta, Florida at St. Louis, Houston at Colorado, and Pittsburgh at San Francisco.

Over in the American League Saturday’s top pitching matchup will be in Chicago, where the Angels and John Lackey (11-3, 3.10 ERA) will be taking on the White Sox and Gavin Floyd (15-6, 3.61 ERA). Rounding out the AL slate: Tampa Bay at Toronto, Detroit at Minnesota, Cleveland at Kansas City, Boston at Texas, the Yankees at Seattle, and a doubleheader between the Orioles and the Athletics in Baltimore.

College football’s top-ranked team, USC, doesn’t play this weekend, but it’ll be No. 2 Georgia vs. Central Michigan, No. 3 Ohio State vs. Ohio, No. 4 Oklahoma vs. Cincinnati, and No. 5 Florida vs. Miami. Those ranked teams are favored by 24, 33.5, 21.5, and 22.5 points, respectively, in those four contests. There are no matchups between ranked teams on the gridiron this weekend.

Finally, the B.C. Lions are pegged as 3.5-point road favorites in their CFL matchup against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday night, and there are three games on the WNBA slate: Detroit at Washington, Los Angeles at Houston, Minnesota at Seattle.

News from the wire . . .

The Giants began their Super Bowl defense with a 16-7 win over the Redskins on Thursday night; Jason Taylor had been questionable for Washington with a knee injury, but he managed to play . . . the Phillies will skip Kyle Kendrick in their rotation on Sunday, instead using ace Cole Hamels (12-8, 3.01 ERA) against the rival Mets.

Peek at the future . . .

The Bears and Colts will cap off the first Sunday of National Football League action tomorrow night, with the Colts 10-point favorites to win at Lucas Oil Stadium . . . 20-game winner Cliff Lee (20-2, 2.32 ERA) will take on 10-game winner Zack Greinke (10-9, 3.67 ERA) in the Indians/Royals matchup on Sunday . . . Lewis Hamilton and the drivers of Formula One return to the track with the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday.

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Written by Dirty · Filed Under Baseball, NASCAR 

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