Daily Sports Roundup: July 31
The Red Sox begin a series at Camden Yards, the Braves get a visit from the Dodgers, and the CFL continues Week 5.
Colliding in the Junior Circuit . . .
John Smoltz (1-4, 7.04 ERA) will be trying to hold onto a spot in the Red Sox rotation on Friday night when his team begins a series in Baltimore. Righthander Smoltz has been tagged with the loss in each of his last two outings, and he was beaten by the Orioles in his last trip to the mound (six earned runs over five innings). Baltimore will counter with righthander Jeremy Guthrie (7-9, 5.21 ERA), who is coming off a loss to Boston on July 25 (five earned runs in 6 2-3 innings).
Also on the American League schedule for Friday: Detroit at Cleveland, Kansas City at Tampa Bay, Seattle at Texas, the Yankees at the White Sox, Toronto at Oakland, and the Angels at Minnesota. Ervin Santana (3-6. 7.29 ERA) is slated to start for L.A.; righthander Santana gave up six runs over 3 2-3 innings against the Twins last time out. Nick Blackburn (8-5, 3.75 ERA) gets the ball for Minnesota; he was rocked by the Angels last time out (six runs in 3 2-3 innings).
Clashing in the Senior Circuit . . .
Tommy Hanson (5-1, 2.95 ERA) will be on the hill for the Braves on Friday night as they host the Dodgers and Jason Schmidt (1-1, 7.88 ERA). Righthander Hanson took a hard-luck loss against the Brewers last time out, allowing just two earned runs over his seven innings of work. Righthander Schmidt lasted just three innings against the Marlins in his most recent outing, giving up five runs (four earned). Schmidt had beaten the Reds in his 2009 season debut on July 20.
Making up the rest of the NL slate for Friday: Washington at Pittsburgh, the Cubs at Florida, Arizona at the Mets, Colorado at Cincinnati, Houston at St. Louis, Milwaukee at San Diego, and Philadelphia at San Francisco. Cliff Lee (7-9, 3.14 ERA) will make his Phillies debut in that contest. Lefthander Lee has won each of his last three starts, allowing four runs in 25 innings. The Giants will turn to Ryan Sadowski (2-3, 4.81 ERA), who has taken a loss in each of his last three outings.
Rounding out the Roundup . . .
There is one game on the Canadian Football League schedule for Friday, with British Columbia at Hamilton. The Tigers-Cats upset the Lions back in Week 2, pulling out a 31-28 road victory as a 13-point underdog. Heading into the Week 5 matchup Hamilton is 2-2 straight-up and 3-1 against-the-spread, while B.C. has disappointed at 1-3 SU and 1-3 ATS. For Friday night’s contest the oddsmakers have the Lions listed as 2-point road favorites, with the total for the game at 50.5.
Finally, there is a single WNBA game on tap for Friday, as Detroit hosts Minnesota. The Shock last played on July 22, when they were edged 98-95 by Atlanta; that put Detroit at 5-9 SU and 5-9 ATS on the season. The Lynx fell 76-70 to Los Angeles in their last contest, which dropped them to 10-8 both SU and ATS on the season. Roneeka Hodges tossed in 14 points for the Lynx in that loss.
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