Slumping Cards turn to Wainwright in finale with Brewers
Baseball Betting Lines
08/18/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers have gotten a first-hand look this year at just how dominating St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright can be. Looking to play the role of spoiler, the team gets a chance this afternoon to deal the All-Star right-hander his first loss at home this season.
Milwaukee will try to solve Wainwright and stretch St. Louis' losing streak to a season high-tying four straight games today in the finale of a two-game set at Busch Stadium.
The Brewers handed the Cardinals a disheartening 3-2 setback on Tuesday night, getting all three unearned runs in the third inning after a Felipe Lopez fielding error. Prince Fielder hit into a double play right after the miscue that plated a run before Casey McGehee drilled a two-run homer.
Starting pitcher Dave Bush did his part for Milwaukee, allowing just four hits -- one a solo homer by Albert Pujols -- over six innings before exiting due to a blister on his right index finger. Though the Cardinals got to within a run in the eighth on a John Axford wild pitch, the closer recorded the final five outs to notch his 18th save.
"It's nice to be able to stick it to a team that's up there in our league right now," Axford said.
While Milwaukee won for just the third time in eight games, St. Louis dropped its third in a row, one shy of a season-worst four-game slide posted from June 6-9. The Cardinals fell two games back of Cincinnati for first place in the National League Central and 1 1/2 back of the Wild Card spot.
St. Louis hurler Jaime Garcia took the loss even though he gave up just the three unearned runs over six frames.
"I thought he was in some of his best form," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said of Garcia. "I think he was outstanding."
La Russa has seen Wainwright in top form all year, and he hopes his hurler can keep it up tonight. Wainwright's 17 wins are tied with Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez for most in the majors and he leads all of baseball with a 1.99 earned run average.
The 28-year-old has won three straight starts and seven of his past eight decisions. He carries a 21-inning scoreless streak into this outing and followed a two-hit shutout of the Marlins on Aug. 6 with seven innings of two- hit ball Wednesday versus the Reds, a victory that had put the Cardinals into first place in the standings.
Wainwright, who is 11-0 with a 1.22 ERA in 12 starts at home this year, has won both of his starts versus the Brewers this year, allowing just a run over 18 innings while striking out 17.
Fielder and Ryan Braun are a combined 0-for-14 with five strikeouts versus Wainwright this year, while Corey Hart has the lone RBI off him with a solo homer.
Drawing the tough task of opposing Wainwright is left-hander Randy Wolf, who has won back-to-back starts and has pitched to a 3.16 ERA in four outings since allowing 12 runs in a setback to the Pirates on July 21.
Wolf beat Arizona on Thursday even though he gave up four runs, seven hits and four walks over six innings, fanning eight while improving to 9-9 with a 4.86 ERA.
Wolf, who turns 34 on Sunday, beat the Cardinals on July 1 with 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball and is 4-6 with a 3.64 ERA in his career versus them.
He won't have to face Colby Rasmus, as the St. Louis outfielder is expected to be out of the starting lineup for a second game in a row due to a strained right calf. Rasmus did pinch-hit in last night's contest.
The Cardinals have won 15 of their last 25 versus the Brewers, though the clubs have split eight meetings this year at Busch Stadium.
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at McGill Stadium on Thursday night.
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against the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium.
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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -Eli Manning is back on the field.The New York Giants quarterback joined teammates for stretching on Wednesday morning at training camp at the University at Albany.Manning, who needed 12 stitches to close a gash on the left side of
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Red Sox go for ninth straight win over Angels >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox try to beat the Los Angeles Angels of
Anaheim for the ninth straight time this evening when the two teams continue
their three-game set at Fenway Park.
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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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