The World Series gets underway in Tampa Bay on Wednesday night, with the Rays looking to take Game 1 of the set from the Phillies. Here's your Daily Sports Roundup.
The Gridiron Spotlight
If the Tennessee Titans are going to remain unbeaten on the season they're going to have to knock off the rival Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night Football this week. The oddsmakers have the Titans listed as 4-point home favorites, with the total at 42 points.
The NFL's two winless teams are also in action this week, with 0-6 Detroit hosting Washington, and 0-7 Cincinnati playing in Houston. The Redskins are 8-point favorites to continue Detroit's woes, while the Texans are 10-point favorites versus the Bengals.
Other Notable Events
The Rays will send Scott Kazmir to the mound in Game 1. Kazmir was up and down in the ALCS against the Red Sox, giving up five earned runs over 4 1-3 innings in his first outing, and then tossing six shutout innings in his second kick at the can. The lefthander won his only start in the ALDS, making him 1-0 with two no-decisions in the postseason.
Cole Hamels will counter for the Phillies. Hamels has rolled in each of his three playoff starts this month. The lefthander blanked the Brewers through eight innings in his only NLDS outing, and he held the Dodgers to three earned runs on 11 hits over 14 innings over two starts in the NLCS. That performance earned MVP honors for the lefthander.
The oddsmakers currently have Hamels and the Phillies pegged as -106 road favorites for Game 1, with the Rays listed at -104. The total for the game is sitting at just 7.5 runs.
The Rest of the Schedule
There are five hockey games on the Wednesday schedule, including the Detroit Red Wings at the St. Louis Blues. The defending champs are 3-1-1 through five games, while the Blues have surprised with a 4-1-0 record. Other NHL games on the slate: Dallas at New Jersey, Florida at Ottawa, San Jose at Philly, and Edmonton at Chicago.
As well, there are six preseason NBA games set for Wednesday: Memphis at Orlando, Cleveland at Detroit, Philly at New Jersey, Chicago at Minnesota, Washington at San Antonio, and Portland at the Clippers. The exhibition schedule will end on Friday night.
News from the Wire
Brett Myers and James Shields are slated to pitch in Game 2 of the World Series on Thursday night, with Jamie Moyer vs. Matt Garza the expected matchup when the set heads to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Saturday . . . the Colts might get running back Joseph Addai back from his hamstring injury for the Monday nighter . . . Canadiens forward Andrei Kostitsyn missed Monday night's win over Florida with his head injury.
A Peek at the Future
The Broncos will sit out Week 8 after getting pounded by the Patriots on Monday night; New England, though, will be back in action on Sunday with a 1:00pm ET game at home against the Rams . . . No. 1 Texas will host No. 7 Oklahoma State in college football action on Saturday. Other ranked matchups include No. 3 Penn State at No. 10 Ohio State, No. 9 Georgia at No. 11 LSU, and also No. 8 Texas Tech at No. 19 Kansas.
