Cardinals turn to Garcia versus Dodgers
Baseball Betting Lines
07/16/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals hope that rookie starter Jaime Garcia can duplicate what Chris Carpenter did last night when he takes the ball Friday in the second portion of a four-game series versus the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium.
Carpenter allowed just one run and four hits in eight innings of Thursday's 7-1 beating of the Dodgers and Mitchell Boggs completed the four-hitter with two strikeouts in the ninth inning.
"I was able to make good pitches. I thought the command of my fastball was better," Carpenter said. "Scoring seven runs was nice."
Garcia would enjoy a seven-run outburst of his own when he makes his 18th start of the season Friday. He has won five of his last seven decisions and is coming off a no-decision on July 7 in an 8-7 loss at the Rockies. Garcia was reached for four runs -- two earned -- and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings to remain at 8-4 this season, while slightly raising his ERA to 2.17.
The young left-hander threw a scoreless inning of relief to beat the Dodgers on August 5 last season and will make his first start against them tonight.
Albert Pujols had three hits Thursday and scored once, while Allen Craig knocked in two runs for the Cardinals, who have won three of four games and are just a half-game behind idle Cincinnati for first place in the NL Central. The Reds were off Thursday and will host Colorado this weekend.
St. Louis got two hits and an RBI from both Yadier Molina and Aaron Miles and will also host Philadelphia for four games on the homestand.
Los Angeles entered the All-Star break with six wins in nine tries, but came out a bit sluggish in Thursday's series opener in the Gateway City.
Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw fell to 9-5 this season after he allowed five runs -- four earned -- and eight hits over 4 1/3 innings to absorb the loss. He didn't get much offensive support besides the help provided by Andre Ethier, who ended 2-for-4 with the lone RBI and a run scored.
"They just kept the pressure on all night," Kershaw said. "The leadoff guy was on every inning. It wasn't a snowball effect, but when you get leadoff guys on and you're getting some hits, it's a tough way to pitch."
LA, which was outhit by a 12-4 difference, will rest its hopes on Chad Billingsley for tonight's second installment of this series. Since winning four straight starts in late May, Billingsley is just 1-2 with a 4.89 earned run average in his last six appearances. He won his most recent outing on July 9 against the Chicago Cubs, as he gave up four runs in seven innings of a 9-7 win. Billingsley improved to 7-4 this season in 16 starts.
The right-hander has been solid on the road this season, going 4-1 in eight starts, and is 1-2 with a 4.40 ERA in six career games (5 starts) against the Cardinals.
The Dodgers swept a three-game set at home versus the Cardinals from June 7-9 after losing five of seven to the club last season.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With rookie sensation Jason Heyward back in the outfield for the Atlanta Braves, things may get a bit easier for the current National League East leaders. Tonight Heyward and the Braves will resume a four-game series versus t
<< Reds, Rockies get second half started in Cincinnati
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two potential National League playoff teams square off
tonight when the Cincinnati Reds host the Colorado Rockies in the opening
contest of a three-game weekend series at Great American Ball Park.
The Reds enter the season
<< Tigers, Scherzer open set with Indians
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Max Scherzer goes after his fifth straight winning decision
this evening when the Detroit Tigers start the second half of their season in
the first test of a four-game set against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive
Field.
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St. Andrews, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With the wind picking up, the cut
line will likely climb through Friday afternoon, and possibly into Saturday
morning, at the British Open.
Phil Mickelson birdied the 18th hole Friday to post
<< Redick stays in Orlando
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Magic have matched the Chicago Bulls' offer
sheet for J.J. Redick, meaning the shooting guard will remain in Orlando for
the foreseeable future.
The Bulls had given Redick, a restricted free agent, a r
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The best team in the National League West, the San Diego Padres, will begin the second half of the season Friday against the last-place Arizona Diamondbacks in the opener of a three-game series at Petco Park. San Diego is
Cubs hope to build off big win in second test with Phils >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs know they have a long and difficult road
ahead of them if they are to get back into contention in the National League
Central. More games like Thursday's second-half opener should make that
journey smoother.
Yankees to host Rays in emotional series opener >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees will take the field this evening with
heavy hearts as they start the second half of their season with the first of a
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Tonight's contest will
Astros visit Pirates in battle of Central doormats >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of the have-nots in the National League's Central
Division get together tonight when the fifth-place Houston Astros visit the
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Th
Mariners turn to Hernandez in hopes of evening set with Angels >>
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Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.