Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Yankees host the Blue Jays, the Sprint Cup Series races at Daytona, and the Williams sisters hit the court at Wimbledon.
Meeting up in the Junior Circuit . . .
The Yankees will be looking to get a second straight win from Chien-Ming Wang (1-6, 10.06 ERA) when they host the Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon. Righthander Wang picked up his first victory of the season in a start against the Mets last time out, allowing two earned runs on four hits in 5 1-3 innings of work. Wang will be in tough Saturday, though, as the Jays counter with ace righthander Roy Halladay (10-2, 2.56 ERA), who has allowed three or fewer earned runs in nine of his past 10 starts. Toronto has won 10 of Halladay’s 15 starts this season.
Also on the American League’s holiday slate for Saturday: Seattle at Boston, the White Sox at Kansas City, Oakland at Cleveland, Tampa Bay at Texas, Baltimore at the Angels, and Detroit at Minnesota. The Tigers will send Edwin Jackson (6-4, 2.49 ERA) to the mound against the Twins’ Francisco Liriano (4-8, 5.62 ERA).
Taking the field in the Senior Circuit . . .
Tim Lincecum (8-2, 2.37 ERA) will be gunning for his third straight victory on Saturday afternoon when his Giants play host to the Astros and Russ Ortiz (3-3, 3.36 ERA). Righthander Lincecum has gone the full nine innings in three of his past four starts, allowing just four earned runs over his past 35 innings pitched. Righthander Ortiz has surrendered only seven earned runs over his past three outings (20 1-3 innings), but Houston managed to drop all three of the contests.
Rounding out the National League slate for Saturday: Atlanta at Washington, Milwaukee at the Cubs, St. Louis at Cincinnati, the Dodgers at San Diego, Pittsburgh at Florida, Arizona at Colorado, and the Mets at Philadelphia. New York’s Fernando Nieve (3-1, 2.25 ERA) will take the mound in the battle of division rivals, while Philadelphia will counter with Jamie Moyer (6-6, 6.05 ERA).
Roaring around the track . . .
The Sprint Cup Series races under the lights on Saturday night, as Daytona International Speedway hosts the Coke Zero 400. Kyle Busch, the defending champion at this event, is pegged as the 5/1 Vegas favorite to visit victory lane again on Saturday, while Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are right behind him at 6/1. Tony Stewart rounds out the top tier of contenders to win the Coke Zero 400 at 8/1 odds; Stewart holds a 69-point lead on Gordon in the driver standings.
Rounding out the Roundup . . .
Finally, the Wimbledon women’s final will be played out at the All England Club on Saturday, with Venus Williams taking on sister Serena for the title. Venus had no trouble dispatching top-seeded Dinara Safina in the semi-finals on Thursday, winning 6-1, 6-0. Serena, on the other hand, had to sweat out a 6-7, 7-5, 8-6 win over fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva. The oddsmakers like the elder Williams to get another Wimbledon title Saturday, as she’s been pegged as the -150 favorite.
