Bet Jamaica Daily Sports Roundup: August 25

August 24, 2008

The third week of the National Football League preseason schedule concludes on Monday with the Chargers hosting the Seahawks. Here’s your Daily Sports Roundup…

Event of the day . . .

Oddsmakers like the Chargers’ chances of beating the Seahawks at home on Monday night, as they’ve been set as 6.5-point favorites in the contest (with the total at 39.5 points). San Diego is 1-1 so far during the preseason (beating the Cowboys and losing to the Rams), but they managed to cover the posted spread in both those games. The Seahawks are 2-0 straight-up and 1-0-1 against-the-spread so far in exhibition play.

Seattle, though, isn’t expected to have starting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck behind center against the Chargers on Monday night. Hasselbeck hasn’t seen the field for the team so far during the preseason, and he experienced more back pain during practice sessions this past week. The team is hoping he will be back on the field for Week 1.

The Chargers have health concerns of their own, as Shawne Merriman announced he has a serious knee injury and could be forced to miss the entire season. More information on that injury should come out this week. Tight end Antonio Gates, though, is getting closer to returning from his foot injury, and should be ready for the season.

Non-event of the day . . .

Jeff Francis was 17-9 for the Rockies last season, but this year he’ll be hard-pressed to even get half that many victories. The lefthander enters Monday’s game against fellow NL West weakling San Francisco with a 3-8 record and a 5.52 ERA, and he hasn’t earned a win since June 18. The Giants will counter with Matt Cain (8-9, 3.52 ERA).

Also on the schedule . . .

There are four other games on the National League schedule for Monday: the Cubs at Pittsburgh, the Dodgers at Philadelphia, Houston at the Mets, and Arizona at San Diego. Dan Haren (14-6, 3.12 ERA) is expected to take on Jake Peavy (9-9, 2.84 ERA) in that D-Backs/Padres game; they faced each other in an August 20 Arizona win.

Over in the American League on Monday it’ll be the White Sox at Baltimore, Cleveland at Detroit, Texas at Kansas City, Oakland at the Angels, and Minnesota at Seattle. Francisco Liriano (4-3, 4.24 ERA) is scheduled to get the ball for the Twins in that last contest; the lefthander has won each of his four starts since returning from the minors.

News from the wire . . .

The Blue Jays sent starting pitcher Shaun Marcum to the minor leagues, replacing him with John Parrish . . . Yankees starting pitcher Carl Pavano made his long-awaited return against the Orioles on Saturday night, giving up three earned runs on seven hits over five innings in a win . . . Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington solidified his hold on the team’s starting gig with a good performance against the Chiefs on Saturday.

Peek at the future . . .

Three key divisional battles will get underway on Tuesday, with the Red Sox taking on the Yankees, the Mets playing in Philadelphia, and the Cardinals getting a visit from the Brewers . . . there are 13 more NFL preseason games on Thursday, with the final three exhibition contests of the year being played on Friday . . . the second PGA Tour playoff tournament, the Deutsche Bank Championship, will get going on Thursday morning.