The Yankees will be looking to keep their slim playoff chances alive on Tuesday night when they continue their series in Tampa Bay.  Here’s your Daily Sports Roundup . . .

Event of the day . . .

Mike Mussina has never won 20 games in a single season, but he still has a shot at doing it this year if he can put together a win streak over the month of September.

Mussina (16-7, 3.41 ERA) was denied his 17^th victory of the season last time out against the Red Sox despite holding the opposition to two earned runs on five hits over seven innings of work. The Yankees, though, still got the win in that game, and overall they’ve won each of Mussina’s last six trips to the mound (and eight of his past 10).

Countering Mussina for the Rays on Tuesday night will be Matt Garza (11-7, 3.53 ERA), who is coming off a strong performance against the Blue Jays in which he tossed 7 2-3 shutout innings in a win. Tampa Bay has pulled out the victory in four of Garza’s last six outings, and the righthander blanked his opponents in three of those six contests.

Non sports event betting…

The Levi Johnson and Bristol Palin pregnancy, improved government response to the overblown Hurricane Gustav—none of that has affected the political betting odds on the US Presidency. Since NewBodog reposted the line, Barack Obama has remained a steady -200 to win the White House.

Who would think Fox News commentator Liz Trotta would beat Keith Olbermann and Bill Mahr to the punch, being the first to grab headlines for attacking Sarah Palin over her decision to run for Vice President despite having a pregnant daughter?  

We are sorry to see the passing of Don Lafontaine, one of the best voiceover talents in Hollywood. He is survived by singer Nita Whitaker.

Week 1 NFL picks…

The NFL odds, often referred to as the NFL lines or NFL Spreads are up. One of the best ever with NFL picks, Stevie Vincent of OffshoreInsiders.com tells us that NFL schedule is looking pretty and this will be one of the best opening NFL weekends as far as beating the NFL spread.

As, Cy McCormick informs us that the new AP Top 25 in college football means that StatMaven Sports will have a sensational system play this weekend that applies to teams ranked in the AP poll in college football (college football odds). Don’t forget the famed Tailgate Party to beat the pointspreads in college and professional football.   

Non-event of the day . . .

Ian Snell and Aaron Harang were expected to be their team’s aces this season, but neither of them has performed up to expectations. Snell is 5-10 with a 5.77 ERA so far this year, while Harang is an ugly 4-14 with a 5.27 ERA. At most one of those two pitchers will be able to add to their loss total on Tuesday, however, as Harang’s Reds play host to Snell’s Pirates in the opener of a three-game divisional series.

Betting event of the day…

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Also on the schedule . . .

The key games between playoff contenders in the National League on Tuesday are the Mets at Milwaukee and St. Louis at Arizona. Other NL games on the day’s schedule: Atlanta at Florida, Philadelphia at Washington, Houston at the Cubs, San Francisco at Colorado, and San Diego at the Dodgers.

Over in the American League the Red Sox will be keeping their eyes on the Yankees/Rays results as they play host to the Orioles on Tuesday. Rounding out the AL slate: the White Sox at Cleveland, the Angels at Detroit, Minnesota at Toronto, Seattle at Texas, and Oakland at Kansas City.

Finally, there are three WNBA games on Tuesday as that league gets closer to the end of its regular season. At 7:00pm ET Seattle will be at Atlanta while Washington hosts Indiana. An hour later, New York will tip off their road game against Houston.

News from the wire . . .

Major League Baseball teams were able to expand their rosters on Monday, with many minor leaguers getting the call to the show . . . Dodgers second baseman Jeff Kent was placed on the disabled list with a knee injury; no timetable has been set for his return . . . Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson says his shoulder is at 100 percent . . . Bills quarterback Trent Edwards has recovered from his quad injury and will start Week 1.

Peek at the future . . .

It’ll be Carl Pavano (2-0, 3.27 ERA) taking on Edwin Jackson (11-8, 3.81) in the Yankees/Rays matchup on Wednesday . . . the Patriots are the NFL’s biggest Week 1 favorites, as they’ve been given a line of -16.5 to beat the Chiefs at home on Sunday afternoon . . . Clint Bowyer has a slim lead on David Ragan in the Sprint Cup standings heading into the final pre-Chase race of the season on Saturday at Richmond.