MLB Betting Preview 8/24

Division leaders face off in am MLB Betting battle in the second game of a three-game set on Tuesday night when the Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers clash in Arlington.

Both teams have comfortable leads atop their divisions, but with more than a month still to go in the season no lead is safe yet. Entering the week the Twins were five games up on the White Sox in the Central, while the Rangers had an eight-game cushion on the Angels in the West.

Tuesday's pitching matchup is Carl Pavano (15-8, 3.52) for the Twins and Colby Lewis (9-10, 3.37) for the Rangers (9-10, 3.37). Pavano is coming off one of his worst outings of the season after getting blasted for seven runs on 15 hits in six innings by the White Sox.

Pavano faced the Rangers in Minnesota back in May and picked up the win after giving up only two runs on seven hits in seven innings. Pavano hasn't pitched in Texas much in his  career, but when he has it hasn't been pretty. In two starts at Rangers Ballpark he's 0-1 with a monstrous 25.20 ERA after allowing 14 earned runs in five innings.

Lewis sports a lame 0-5 record in his last six starts, but it isn't all his fault. The Rangers' bats have been silent whenever Lewis has taken the mound recently, scoring only seven runs in his six starts. Last time out he was tagged with a loss against Baltimore after giving up four runs on nine hits in 6 2-3 innings. The last time Lewis faced the Twins in May run support was also a problem after he held Minnesota to two runs on five hits in six innings, but took the loss in a 2-1 Texas defeat.

Over in the National League on Tuesday the Cincinnati Reds look to pad their lead in the NL Central against a San Francisco Giants squad trying to make up ground in both the NL West and NL Wild Card races.

The Reds will send rookie Travis Wood (4-1, 2.51) to the mound tonight, while the Giants will counter with Jonathan Sanchez (9-8, 3.47). Wood has won his last four starts and stifled the Diamondbacks in his last outing, holding them to one run on four hits in six innings. Tuesday will be his first career start against the Giants.

Sanchez dominated the Phillies in his last start with eight solid innings of two-hit ball in which he allowed one run with seven strikeouts. The last time Sanchez faced the Reds in June he picked up the loss after giving up three runs on seven hits in five innings.

NASCAR Betting: Watkins Glen

The Sprint Cup Series hits the road on Sunday afternoon in its 22nd race of the year – the long-titled Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen at Watkins Glen road course and sports betting fans are very excited

A handful of active drivers have dominated the checkered flag at Watkins Glen, most recently Tony Stewart. Stewart won the Heluva Good! last season, beating Marcos Ambrose and Carl Edwards across the finish line. Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle rounded out the Top 5 at Watkins Glen in 2009, with Juan Montoya, Kurt Busch, Max Papis, Clint Bowyer, and Denny Hamlin making up the rest of the Top 10. Jimmie Johnson had to settle for a 12th-place finish at that event, while an accident put Jeff Gordon in 37th spot.

That marked Stewart's fifth career Cup win at Watkins Glen; he also won on the road course in 2007, 2005, 2004, and 2002. Gordon (2001, 1999, 1998, and 1997) and Mark Martin (1995, 1994, and 1993) have combined for seven other wins on the track, with Kyle Busch (2008), Kevin Harvick (2006), and Robby Gordon (2003) being the other active drivers who have managed to visit victory lane at Watkins Glen over their careers.

Martin especially will be looking to repeat some past success at Watkins Glen this weekend, as he has ground to make up in the race for a berth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Martin sits one below the Chase cutoff line in 13th place in the current Sprint Cup standings after 21 races, 34 points behind the 12th-place driver (Bowyer). Here's a look at how the Sprint Cup standings break down heading into Watkins Glen:

Sprint Cup Series: Points Standings

01 Kevin Harvick
02 Jeff Gordon -189
03 Denny Hamlin -260
04 Jimmie Johnson -277
05 Jeff Burton -323
06 Kyle Busch -356
07 Kurt Busch -358
08 Tony Stewart -361
09 Matt Kenseth -398
10 Carl Edwards -414
11 Greg Biffle -428
12 Clint Bowyer -516
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13 Mark Martin -550
14 Dale Earnhardt Jr. -645
15 Ryan Newman -654
16 Kasey Kahne -684
17 Jamie McMurray -688
18 David Reutimann -699
19 Joey Logano -751
20 Martin Truex Jr. -797

Earnhardt Jr. and Newman are the next closest drivers to the Chase cutoff line, but they have even more ground to make up than Martin over the next few races. Martin ended up in 23rd place at Watkins Glen in '09, while Dale Jr. was 39th, and Newman was 21st.

Qualified drivers will be re-sorted according to race wins once the Chase begins in September. Hamlin and Johnson are battling for the top spot in that category right now:

Sprint Cup Series: Wins Standings

01 Denny Hamlin 5
01 Jimmie Johnson 5
03 Kevin Harvick 2
03 Kyle Busch 2
03 Kurt Busch 2
03 Jamie McMurray 2
07 Greg Biffle 1
07 Ryan Newman 1
07 David Reutimann 1

Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Kurt Busch will all be looking to break that tie for third place in the standings with a win at Watkins Glen. McMurray also has two victories on the season, but he's back in 17th place in the driver standings and likely to miss the Chase.

The Chase for the Sprint Cup begins on September 19 in the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. After Watkins Glen there are four more races on the pre-Chase slate: Michigan, Bristol, Atlanta, and Richmond. Sunday's race begins at 1pm ET.

NASCAR: Pennsylvania 500 Preview

The Sprint Cup Series takes to NASCAR's version of the Bermuda Triangle this weekend. The Pennsylvania 500 pits the best stock car drivers against each other at Pocono Raceway.

The 2.5-mile tri-oval has been dominated by Denny Hamlin in recent races. The No. 11 car has visited Victory Lane in the last two events at Pocono, winning last year's Pennsylvania 500 and this season's Gillette 400 back in June. Hamlin has four career wins at the triangle.

Hamlin is priced as a football sized odds of  +400 favorite but hasn't been his sharpest in recent races. He has an average finish of 19th over his last five outings, including a 15th-place showing at the Brickyard 400 last weekend. He is currently third in the standings, 260 points behind leader Kevin Harvick.

Harvick is also among the notables at Long Pond this weekend. He's priced at +850 and is coming off a second-place showing at Indianapolis last weekend. Harvick has placed inside the Top 5 in five of his last seven races, putting a solid cushion between him and the rest of the Sprint Cup field.

Harvick owns an average finish of 15.1 at Pocono and posted a fourth-place performance in June's Gillette 400. In 19 career starts at Pennsylvania, he has three Top-5 finishes.

Jeff Gordon is the closest driver to knocking off Harvick. He's 184 points off the lead and is coming off a disappointing 23rd-place finish at Indianapolis last weekend. The No. 24 car has yet to win a race this season and is winless in 49 straight starts, sparking Hendrick Motorsports to make some changes heading into Pocono.

Gordon, who is listed at +850 for the Pennsylvania 500, has replaced his spotter for this Sunday. Jeff Dickerson, who left Kyle Busch last week, was brought on in place of Shannon McGlamery, who had been with Gordon since 2007.

Busch is another driver among the sportsbooks' picks to finish up front at Long Pond. He's listed at +600 and got his season back on track with an eighth-place finish at the Brickyard last weekend. Busch snapped a skid of five finishes outside the Top 10 which dropped him back to sixth in the points standings.

The No. 18 Toyota ran well in its last trip to Pocono, finishing second at the Gillette 400. However, for his career, Busch has struggled at the Tricky Triangle, posting an average finish of 19.6 and just two Top-5 performances.

Tony Stewart is another driver to keep an eye on Sunday. The driver/owner has an average finish of 11.9 at Long Pond and has won two of his 23 career starts there. He's also taken two of the last three poles at Pennsylvania and has placed inside the Top 3 in three of his last four races there. Stewart is picking up steam heading into the weekend; he finished fifth at the Brickyard and has placed inside the Top 10 in seven of his last eight starts.