05/09/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of playoff hopefuls get together for a three-game series that begins this afternoon at Wrigley Field, where the Chicago Cubs host the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first meeting between the teams since last year's National League Division Series.
The 2007 NL West champion Diamondbacks easily handled the Central-winning Cubs during that postseason skirmish, as Arizona swept the best-of-five series and clinched a berth into the NLCS with a 5-1 victory at Wrigley Field in Game 3. The Diamondbacks also won four of their six regular-season matchups with Chicago and are 16-6 against the Cubs (including last year's postseason) since the start of the 2005 campaign.
Arizona has played like a playoff team during the early portion of this season as well. The Diamondbacks own the best record in the majors at 23-12 and own a 3 1/2-game lead on Los Angeles for first place in the NL West at the moment.
The Diamondbacks hit the road after splitting a four-game series with Philadelphia at Chase Field earlier this week. Arizona evened the set behind Brandon Webb on Thursday, as the ace right-hander went the distance on a six- hitter to lead his club to an 8-3 decision over the Phillies.
Webb (8-0) surrendered three runs -- two earned -- and struck out four to win his eighth straight start to begin the season. The sinker specialist also won his first eight decisions in 2006, the year he captured the NL's Cy Young Award.
Chris Snyder went 2-for-4 with two runs batted in for the Diamondbacks, who also received home runs from both Justin Upton and Chris Young on the afternoon. Mark Reynolds ended 3-for-4 with an RBI in the win.
Chicago begins a 10-game homestand this afternoon and currently sits two games behind rival St. Louis for the top spot in the NL Central. The Cubs have dropped five of their last seven contests and were routed by the Cincinnati Reds in their most recent trip to the diamond.
In Wednesday's finale of a three-game series, the Reds belted seven home runs to back seven shutout innings from Edinson Volquez to hand Chicago a 9-0 setback at Great American Ball Park.
Joey Votto went deep three times for Cincinnati, while Volquez struck out 10 Cubs and yielded just four hits before turning the game over to his bullpen.
Jon Lieber (2-2) lasted just two innings in his first start of 2008. The veteran righty was shelled for five runs on seven hits, including four home runs, during his short stint.
The slumping Cubs face another tough challenge today in Arizona's Dan Haren, who has amassed an impressive 4-1 record and a 3.12 earned run average over his first seven starts as a D-Back.
Haren, acquired from Oakland in a blockbuster offseason trade, received a no- decision in his most recent outing despite pitching well enough to earn another win. The All-Star righty limited the New York Mets to two runs and three hits and matched a season-best with seven strikeouts over six innings this past Sunday.
The 27-year-old will be facing the Cubs for the first time since 2004, when Haren was a member of the Cardinals. In two lifetime starts against Chicago, one a loss and the other a no decision, he has been tagged for 12 runs and 16 hits over just 8 2/3 innings.
Chicago counters with Ted Lilly, who appears to have gotten himself back on track after a rough beginning to the season. The left-hander is 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA over his last three starts, compared to an 0-3 mark and a woeful 9.16 ERA during his first four mound trips of the year.
Lilly worked a season-high seven innings to defeat St. Louis on Saturday, holding the Cardinals to three runs on six hits and issuing just one walk.
The two-time 15-game winner is 0-2 in four career regular-season appearances against Arizona, including a pair of starts, despite having pitched to a respectable 3.38 ERA in those games. However, Lilly was shelled for six runs in just 3 1/3 innings by the Diamondbacks to suffer the loss in Game 2 of last year's NLDS.
<< A pair of aces to highlight Padres-Rockies opener
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A solid pitching matchup is on tap tonight at Petco Park,
where Jake Peavy will lead the San Diego Padres against Aaron Cook and the NL
West-rival Colorado Rockies.
Peavy is 4-1 with a 2.22 earned run average in seven
<< Reeling Brewers return home to face Central-leading Cards
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers are back at home after a lengthy road
trip, and they will try to stop a six-game slide tonight in the first of four
straight games versus the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park.
Milwaukee went 2-7 o
<< Marlins try to keep up season success against Nats
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NL East-leading Florida Marlins will try to extend
their current winning streak to a season-high five games tonight, when they
begin a seven-game road trip with the first of three straight meetings with
Washing
<< Braves take hot streak into Pittsburgh
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves will try to stay unbeaten this month as
they open a seven-game road trip with tonight's first of four straight games
against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.
Atlanta is coming off a perfect six
O's try to continue dominance of KC >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles will attempt to maintain their
recent dominance of the Kansas City Royals when the two teams continue a four-
game series tonight at Kauffman Stadium.
Baltimore has now won 10 straight encounters wit
Red Sox make trip to Metrodome >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The defending world champion Boston Red Sox make their lone
regular-season visit to the Metrodome this weekend, when the American League
powerhouses start up a four-game series with the Minnesota Twins that begins
this evenin
Maggert's brother killed in CO plane crash >>
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Professional golfer Jeff Maggert's
brother was killed Thursday when a single-engine plane he was piloting crashed
in a mountainous area in Colorado.
The plane went down in a rugged, wooded area a
Golf Tidbits: Inkster's major streak to end >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There have been significant winning
streaks in golf over the years, and there have also been plenty of players who
have stressed family over golf. Occasionally the two intersect.
Consider the case of Juli
Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."
When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules.
The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.
The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.
“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”
The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.
“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”
The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.
“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”
Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.
“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."
So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?
“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.
Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.
Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.
Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.
“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.
Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.
The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.
“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.
Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.
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