Marlins, Braves open four-game set in Atlanta
Baseball Betting Lines
06/02/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins will continue their 10-game trip against NL East foes this evening, when they begin a four-game series against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field.
Florida was riding a three-game winning streak before losing the last two tests of a three-game series against the New York Mets. It then suffered a 12-3 loss at Philadelphia on Friday in the opener of a three-game set, while losing control of the top spot in the division.
The Marlins rebounded with a 7-3 triumph on Saturday, but reverted to its losing ways in a 7-5 setback in Sunday's finale. Mike Jacobs provided the offense with a pair of home runs and four RBI and starter Andrew Miller did not factor in the outcome. He lasted five innings and allowed three runs -- two earned -- on three hits and four walks.
Relief pitcher Doug Waechter was saddled with the loss, giving up a season- high three runs in 1 1/3 innings. Florida is now a half-game behind the Phillies in the NL East and 13-12 away from South Beach this season.
Scott Olsen already has a win against Atlanta this season, and will shoot for an encore performance on Monday. Olsen took the hill versus the Braves on April 15 at Dolphin Stadium and tossed seven shutout innings of five-hit ball in a 4-0 victory. He is, however, 2-4 with a 7.03 ERA in nine career games (eight starts) against Atlanta.
Olsen last pitched on May 28 at the New York Mets, and did not post a decision in a 7-6 loss. He yielded four runs and six hits in five innings to fall to 0-1 with a 7.08 earned run average over the past four trips to the mound. The left-hander is 4-2 with a 3.65 ERA in 11 outings this season.
Atlanta can only hope some home cooking can garner some victories, as it was just swept in three games by the Cincinnati Reds over the weekend at Great American Ballpark. In Sunday's 6-2 loss in the series finale, Braves starter Tim Hudson gave up seven hits and four runs -- three earned -- with three strikeouts and three walks in six-plus innings of work. Hudson left in the seventh inning with a strained left hamstring.
Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann hit back-to-back homers in the seventh inning to provide the only offense for the Braves, who went 1-5 on a six-game road trip through Cincinnati and Milwaukee to fall to 7-21 as the guest. Now they will put their 22-7 home mark on the line this evening.
Atlanta, which is 3 1/2 games off the lead in the NL East, will open a seven- game homestand tonight with Jo-Jo Reyes on the hill. Reyes is 2-3 with a 4.83 ERA in six starts this season, and has dropped two straight outings. He last toed the rubber on May 28 at Milwaukee, allowing one run and two hits over seven strong innings of a 1-0 setback at Miller Park. He is 1-3 over his previous four starts.
The left-handed Reyes faced the Marlins just once in his career on September 18 last season, hurling five innings of one-run ball in a 4-3 triumph.
Florida is 3-2 against Atlanta this season, but the Braves are 33-27 in the series since the start of the 2005 campaign. Atlanta is 19-10 versus the Marlins at Turner Field over that stretch.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ken Griffey Jr. brings his historic home run chase to Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park, as the Cincinnati Reds take on the Phillies tonight in the first of four consecutive games. Griffey belted his 599th career home run
<< Rockies try to end road woes in LA
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies will try again for the first victory
of their current 10-game road trip, as they battle the Los Angeles Dodgers
tonight in the opener of a three-game set at Chavez Ravine.
The Rockies are 0-7 s
<< Angels play the first of three in Seattle
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of American League West rivals get together tonight
at Seattle's Safeco Field, where the division-leading LA Angels of Anaheim
begin a six-game road trip with the first of three straight meetings with the
last-place M
<< Pirates, Cardinals conclude series at Busch
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals hope to complete a week-long
homestand on a positive note with tonight's finale of a four-game series with
the Pittsburgh Pirates from Busch Stadium.
St. Louis has gone 4-2 thus far on the seven-gam
<< Cubs carry seven-game winning streak into San Diego
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs hit the road with a seven-game winning
streak in tow and will attempt to keep rolling in tonight's clash with the San
Diego Padres from Petco Park.
Chicago completed a perfect week-long homestand and a fo
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets are playing the kind of baseball right now that could save a manager's job. Willie Randolph's crew will try to maintain its hot play in the opener of a three-game set tonight with the San Francis
Diamondbacks kick off road trip in Milwaukee >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National League West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks begin
a 10-game road trip tonight, starting with the first of three consecutive
games against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park.
Arizona is 11-13 away from the deser
Red Sox aim for four-game sweep of Orioles >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While Boston's 10-game road trip didn't get off to a great
note, it sure can end on one. The Red Sox try to run their record to .500 on
the trek, which ends tonight in the finale of a four-game set with the
Baltimo
Rangers resume homestand with clash against reeling Indians >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers continue their 10-game homestand this
evening with the first of four games against the Cleveland Indians at Rangers
Ballpark.
The Rangers started their homestand in impressive fashion by taking t
Dementieva reaches French quarters >>
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former runner-up Elena Dementieva posted
a fourth-round victory Monday to reach the quarterfinals at the French Open.
The seventh-seeded Dementieva held off 11th-seeded fellow Russian Vera
Zvonareva 6-4,
Online Sportsbook Football Betting
Colts give the ‘D’ its due
The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
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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.
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