Slumping Angels host struggling A's

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07/23/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of struggling American League West teams start up a three-game series tonight in southern California, where the division-leading Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim welcome the reeling Oakland Athletics.

Oakland comes in having dropped 11 of its last 13 contests, a stretch that began with a season-long nine-game losing streak from July 6-17. Anaheim hasn't been much better lately, as the Angels have lost five of their last seven and seen their lead over Seattle atop the division dwindle to two games.

The Angels did pick up a needed win on Sunday, however. Joe Saunders tossed seven strong innings and Garret Anderson ended his club's lengthy homerless drought to help Los Angeles post a 7-2 victory at Minnesota.

Anderson finished 2-for-4 with a solo homer, the first by an Anaheim player in 14 games. Robb Quinlan and Casey Kotchman each drove in two runs as the Angels averted a three-game sweep at the hands of the Twins.

Saunders (4-0), who was called up from Triple-A Salt Lake before the game to take the spot in the rotation previously held by Ervin Santana, allowed just two runs on six hits while walking one and fanning five.

The Angels hope to receive a similar mound performance tonight out of former Cy Young winner Bartolo Colon. The right-hander is enduring a five-start winless streak in which he has recorded three losses, two no decisions and a 7.92 earned run average.

Colon is coming off Wednesday's loss at Tampa Bay, where he was touched for three runs on five hits and four walks in five innings. That outing was a major improvement over his previous start, when the Dominican was rocked for seven runs and seven hits in just two innings July 6 at Yankee Stadium.

The 34-year-old does own a 6-3 record and 3.38 ERA in 13 career starts against Oakland, but has not faced the A's since September 29, 2005.

Oakland's recent misery continued on Sunday, as the club was shut down by Jeremy Guthrie and the Baltimore Orioles. The Athletics managed just two hits -- both singles -- during a 2-0 setback in the rubber match of a three-game series from McAfee Coliseum.

The loss spoiled an outstanding effort from Oakland starter Dallas Braden (1-5), who held Baltimore to one run and four hits over seven quality innings.

The A's scored just five runs during the three meetings with the Orioles and have averaged a mere 2.4 runs over their rough 13-game stretch.

Oakland pitcher Chad Gaudin has also had his troubles as of late. The converted reliever has surrendered 10 runs and 11 walks over a 10-inning span in back-to-back defeats to Minnesota and Texas.

Gaudin issued six walks in six innings during Tuesday's 11-4 loss to the Rangers and was charged with five runs on the evening.

Despite those recent struggles, Gaudin has put together a nice season in the Oakland rotation. The 24-year-old is 8-3 with a 3.39 ERA in 20 starts.

Gaudin faced the Angels twice in April and posted a 1-0 record with a 2.13 ERA against Anaheim, yielding just three runs over 12 2/3 innings of work. He is 2-0 with a 3.38 in nine lifetime appearances (two starts) versus tonight's opponent.

Oakland owns a 4-2 advantage in this year's season series thus far, with the rivals having split a four-game set at Angel Stadium back in April.

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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

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