08/14/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals have to be frustrated with the way the red-hot Milwaukee Brewers have been playing lately. The Cardinals are four games behind the Brewers in the NL Wild Card standings, but their Central division rivals have ripped off eight straight wins to distance themselves.
St. Louis can only hope for help from other clubs in its quest for a postseason berth and will close out a four-game series this evening against the Florida Marlins at Dolphin Stadium.
The Cardinals have alternated wins and losses over their last six games, having posted a 6-4 victory over Florida on Wednesday behind a solid performance from Troy Glaus, who ended with a game-high four hits and finished with an RBI and a run scored. Jason LaRue knocked in the go-ahead runs with a double in the seventh inning and Skip Schumaker posted three hits in the win.
St. Louis starter Braden Looper earned the win with seven strong innings. The righty only allowed two runs -- one earned -- and five hits while striking out five batters and issuing just one walk. The Cardinals are 3-3 on a 10-game road trip and 34-28 away from Busch Stadium in 2008.
Todd Wellemeyer will be responsible for pitching duties for the Cards on Thursday. Wellemeyer is unbeaten over his past six starts (2-0) and is coming off a solid performance at Chicago's Wrigley Field on August 9.
The right-hander held the rival Cubs to three runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings of a 12-3 drubbing. Wellemeyer, though, has allowed two or more runs in seven of his last eight starts.
Wellemeyer, who is 3-0 with a 3.36 ERA in 11 away starts, has made three career relief appearances against Florida, going 0-0 with a 7.36 earned run average in 3 2/3 innings pitched in the series.
Florida is in the midst of a heated race in the National League East division, but haven't been able to capitalize off of division-leading Philadelphia's current woes. The Phillies have lost three in a row to fall into a tie atop the East standings with the New York Mets, while the Marlins are sitting 1 1/2 games off the pace.
In Wednesday's 6-4 loss to St. Louis, Mike Jacobs drove in two runs and both Hanley Ramirez and Jorge Cantu ended with an RBI in defeat. Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco did not factor in the decision after yielding two runs and 10 hits in six innings of work. Renyel Pinto suffered the loss after permitting two runs on two hits.
The Marlins are 1-2 on a seven-game homestand and 34-28 in South Beach this season. They will hand the ball to Scott Olsen on Thursday and hasn't fared too well over his last few outings.
Olsen has dropped three of his last four starts, with a 5.16 earned run average over that stretch. He previously pitched on August 9 against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium, allowing five runs and nine hits in five innings of his team's 8-6 defeat.
The left-hander is 1-2 with a 7.00 ERA in three career starts against the Cardinals.
St. Louis and Florida are meeting for the first time since the Cardinals won four of six meetings a year ago. St. Louis is 15-7 in this series since the 2005 season, including a 9-3 mark as the visitor.
The Cardinals have won 13 of their last 18 games at Florida.
<< Phils, Myers close series at Chavez Ravine
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time Brett Myers took the hill he had a fantastic
outing spoiled by his behavior. Tonight, Myers will try to keep his cool and
put the Philadelphia Phillies back in the win column in the finale of a four-
game series
<< Mets wrap up series with Nationals
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The race for National League East supremacy seems much like
a see-saw, with teams either sharing the lead or trading the top spot on
several occasions.
The New York Mets are back at the top of the heap tied with the Philad
<< Jackson makes Tribe debut versus O's
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Recently acquired southpaw Zach Jackson makes his first
appearance in an Indians uniform tonight when Cleveland closes out a four-game
series with the visiting Baltimore Orioles at Progressive Field.
Jackson began the se
<< NCAA Football Preview - USC Trojans
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -
2007 SEASON IN REVIEW: The USC Trojans entered last season once again as the
team to beat in the Pac-10, and did not hesitate to flex their muscle in the
season opener, as the team pounded Idaho, 38-10. The T
Blake ousts Federer from Olympics; Williams sisters out of singles >>
Beijing, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Blake has finally slayed the dragon.
The eighth-seeded Blake had been 0-8 against Super Swiss Roger Federer going
into Thursday's tennis quarterfinal match at the Olympics, but the American
pulled out
Saints DT Thomas out two months >>
Metairie, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Hollis
Thomas suffered a right triceps injury in practice on Wednesday that will
sideline him about two months.
A starter for much of his two seasons with New Orlea
Roy has successful surgery >>
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy
underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on Thursday to repair a meniscus
tear in his left knee.
The All-Star from the University of Washington learned of th
Flyers extend head coach Stevens once more >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers reached an
agreement with head coach John Stevens on a two-year contract extension on
Thursday.
Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"I am very exc
Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year
Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.
Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.
With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.
Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.
Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.
Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to bet on the NBA. With the regular season about to hit the homestretch, it is important to point out that MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.
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Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook
Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds. The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.
Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.
Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).
Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.
World Series odds
Adam Dunn 15-1
Albert Pujols 5-1
Alex Rodriguez 12-1
Alfonso Soriano 15-1
Andruw Jones 25-1
Barry Bonds 50-1
Carlos Delgado 40-1
David Ortiz 8-1
Jermaine Dye 40-1
Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1
Lance Berkman 40-1
Manny Ramirez 20-1
Richie Sexson 40-1
Ryan Howard 6-1
Travis Hafner 20-1
Vladimir Guerrero 40-1
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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