Wednesday’s Betting Tips
Covers.com
Who’s hot
MLB: Angels are 16-5 in their last 21 road games.
MLB: Tigers are 44-14 in Verlander’s last 58 home starts.
MLB: Over is 13-5 in the Giants’ last 18 road games.
Who’s not
MLB: Padres are 19-39 in their last 58 road games.
MLB: Dodgers are 3-13 in their last 16 overall.
MLB: Rockies are 2-9 in their last 11 meetings with St. Louis.
Key stat
5 – Andy Murray has advanced to the Wimbledon quarterfinals in each of the last five years. England hasn’t produced a Wimbledon winner since Fred Perry won in 1936. Murray is set as a -222 favorite Wednesday against David Ferrer.
Injury that shouldn’t be overlooked
Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings – Peterson is reportedly on track to start Week 1, but it sounds more like the team is going to be very careful with his surgically repaired knee. "He's so valuable to our organization that we have to be smart,” Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier told USA Today. “We'll tread lightly as far as Week 1 and how much he'll contribute on the field.” The Vikes are set as 4.5-point favorites at home to Jacksonville in Week 1.
Game of the day
New York Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays (-140, 8)
Notable quotable
"You can't play a defending Wimbledon champion or Grand Slam champion and not elevate your game. I had to weed out the riffraff and just get serious.” – Serena Williams after ousting former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova to advance to the semifinals.
Notes and tips
Three of MLB’s most prominent over umpires are scheduled to work behind the plate Wednesday. Jim Reynolds is set to work the Cubs-Atlanta matchup and has seen the over go 15-5 in his last 20. Jim Wolf will call balls and strikes for the Angels-Indians tilt and the over is 24-9-6 in his last 39. Meanwhile the over is 24-9 in Chris Guccione’s games as he gets ready to work the Reds-Dodgers meeting.
Roger Goodell is standing by the NFL's investigation into the Saints' bounty system, informing the four players who received suspensions as a result of the alleged pay-for-play setup that their discipline has been upheld. That means a season-long suspension without pay for Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma. Also suspended without pay current Packers defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove (first eight games of 2012), Saints defensive end Will Smith (four games) and current Browns linebacker Scott Fujita (three games).
Travis Hafner is now expected to be activated from the disabled list Wednesday, instead of Tuesday as originally planned. Cleveland’s DH was hitting .242 with six homers and 23 RBI before hitting the shelf with a knee injury.
The New York Mets are reportedly interested in reacquiring their former closer, Francisco Rodriguez, from the Milwaukee Brewers. New York is looking to improve its bullpen and Rodriguez is one of the players it is targeting, a source told the New York Post on Monday. Rodriguez, also known as "K-Rod," has 292 career saves, including 83 in three seasons with the Mets (2009-11). He sets up John Axford in Milwaukee.Rodriguez has a 4.11 ERA this season and is making $8 million, which could make him expendable to the struggling Brewers.