Cubs try to end home woes as Brewers come to Wrigley
Baseball Betting Lines
04/23/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Zambrano will try to get back on track when the Chicago Cubs begin a three-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers this evening at Wrigley Field.
Zambrano has turned in consecutive forgettable outings and has lost his last two decisions overall. The ace of the Chicago staff gave up five runs on eight hits and five walks over six innings in his last start Wednesday against Atlanta, ballooning his earned run average to 7.77.
That outing was on the heels of a four-inning, six-run shelling at the hands of the Reds that dropped him to 1-2 on the season.
However, the right-hander's lone win of the season came against Milwaukee back on April 7. That day Zambrano allowed only three runs over seven innings to record the victory.
He is 8-7 with a 4.17 ERA in 17 career games -- 16 starts -- against the Brewers. Zambrano needs just one inning to reach 1,000 for his career.
The Cubs enter the series on a down note after Albert Pujols blasted a three- run homer in the 10th inning to lift the St. Louis Cardinals over Chicago, 12-9, in the rubber match of a three-game series at Wrigley Field.
Michael Barrett and Aramis Ramirez both had home runs in the loss, while Jacque Jones had two hits and a pair of RBI for Chicago.
Barrett has homered in three straight games and has six RBI over that span.
Cubs starter Wade Miller was rocked in his 4 2/3 innings, yielding nine hits and seven runs, including three home runs.
The Cubs, just 3-7 at home this season, did welcome back Alfonso Soriano on Sunday. Soriano, who had missed the previous five games with a left hamstring injury, did not start, but pinch hit in the ninth and came up with a key double.
Claudio Vargas makes his third start of the season tonight for the Brewers. In his last start on Wednesday, Vargas earned his first victory in a Milwaukee uniform when he scattered two runs and five hits with a career-high 11 strikeouts over six innings in a win over the Pirates.
Vargas, who has posted a 1.64 ERA over his last two starts, is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in five career appearances, including one start, against the Cubs. His only career start against the Cubs came last season, when he was tagged for seven runs on eight hits over four innings in a 9-3 loss.
Vargas will aim to duplicate the success of Dave Bush, who threw eight-plus strong innings to lead the Brewers past the Houston Astros, 4-3, at Miller Park on Sunday.
Bush (2-1) allowed three runs on five hits and one walk. Francisco Cordero picked up his seventh save of the season, despite yielding one hit and two walks in the ninth.
Bill Hall had three hits, including a homer, and Geoff Jenkins hit two doubles and a single for the Brewers, who have won four of their last five games.
The Brewers begin a six-game road trip this evening and are 4-3 as the visitor on the season.
These two NL Central rivals squared off in a three-game series in Milwaukee during the season's first week, with the Cubs taking two of three. They split 16 meetings in 2006.
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2007 NFL Football Betting Preview
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch
Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.
Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.
"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."
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