Courtesy of OddsShark.com: Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Packers get a visit from the Colts, the Rangers play host to the Twins, and the PGA Tour begins the FedExCup playoffs at Ridgewood.
Colliding on the gridiron . . .
The National Football League offers up a pair of Week 3 preseason games on Thursday night, with St. Louis at New England, and Indianapolis at Green Bay. Oddsmakers have the Patriots listed as 7.5-point home Bodog favorites at in that first matchup as they look to improve on their 2-0 exhibition record. The Rams are 1-1 so far in the preseason, beating Cleveland 19-17 last week. The Colts are winless through the first two weeks of the preseason, while the Packers beat Seattle 27-24 last week for their first win of the exhibition schedule. Green Bay has been pegged as the 3.5-point favorites at SportsBook for Thursday.
Metting on the diamond . . .
There are four games on the American League schedule for Thursday, with Oakland at Cleveland, Detroit at Toronto, Baltimore at the White Sox, and Minnesota at Texas. Francisco Liriano (11-7, 3.45 ERA) is set to take on Cliff Lee (10-7, 3.09 ERA) in that Twins/Rangers matchup. Lefthander Liriano last pitched against the White Sox back on August 18, picking up a no-decision after giving up five runs on six hits over his five innings of work. Lefthander Lee was pounded by the Orioles in his last trip to the mound, surrendering eight runs (and four home runs) on 10 hits in 5 2-3 innings of work.
Over in the National League on Thursday it’s then Houston at Philadelphia, the Dodgers at Milwaukee, Arizona at San Diego, Florida at the Mets, and St. Louis at Washington. Chris Carpenter (14-4, 2.88 ERA) will get the ball for the Cardinals in that last matchup, while Jordan Zimmermann (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will come up from the minors to pitch for the Nationals. Righthander Carpenter beat the Giants in his last trip to the mound, allowing just one run on five hits over 7 1-3 innings of work. Righthander Zimmermann spent most of the year on the disabled list with an elbow injury; he’s been pitching in Syracuse.
Top expert picks on today’s card…
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Rounding out the Roundup . . .
The PGA Tour kicks off its FedExCup playoffs on Thursday morning with The Barclays at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey. Mickelson have been listed as the 12/1 co-favorites to win The Barclays this week, with Rory McIlroy sitting third on that odds list at 14/1. Ernie Els, the FedExCup points leader, is back at 30/1, while Steve Stricker, who sits second on that leaderboard, is pegged at 18/1 odds. Jim Furyk had been listed at 25/1 to win The Barclays; he was disqualified on Wednesday for missing the pro-am. Defending champ Heath Slocum is set at 100/1.
Finally, the first round of the WNBA playoffs continue on Thursday, with Indiana at New York and San Antonio at Phoenix. The Fever (21-13 SU, 18-16 ATS) stumbled into the playoffs on a three-game losing streak, while the Liberty (22-12 SU, 18-15-1 ATS) slipped past Connecticut 88-87 last time out. Oddsmakers have New York pegged as a 3.5-point home favorite for Thursday, with the total at 146.5. The Silver Stars (14-20 SU, 14-18-2 ATS) are riding a two-game winning streak, while the Mercury (15-19 SU, 16-18 ATS) have been tagged with a loss in each of their last two games. The oddsmakers have Phoenix listed as the 8.5-point home favorite for Thursday, with that total at 186.5.