Padres try to string back-to-back wins together against LA

Baseball Betting Lines

09/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After finally being able to end a potentially-costly 10- game skid on Monday, the San Diego Padres will try to start up a winning streak behind their best pitcher when the National League West leaders resume a three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight at Petco Park.

San Diego had been mired in its longest winless drought since registering a franchise-record 13 straight losses from May 8-21, 1994, and the slide had cut the team's once-comfortable lead atop the NL West down to a single game over hard-charging San Francisco. The Padres were able to get back on track at the expense of the fading Dodgers, however, coming through with a much-needed 4-2 victory in last night's opener.

The Padres still remained just one game up on the Giants, though, after San Francisco defeated Arizona on Monday. The two clubs will square off in a pivotal four-game set in San Diego beginning on Thursday.

Nick Hundley went 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBI to pace San Diego offensively last night, while the Padres used seven different pitchers to keep the Dodgers' offense under wraps. Mike Adams (3-1) was credited with the win after throwing 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief, with closer Heath Bell striking out two in a perfect ninth to notch his 38th save.

"I think there was a big exhale," Padres manager Bud Black said. "But again I think our guys know they have to prepare for another game. They know what month we're in."

Tim Stauffer worked the first four innings in an emergency start for San Diego and held Los Angeles to one run on four hits. The swingman was filling in for ace Mat Latos, who was scratched just hours before the game due to a stomach flu.

Latos is scheduled to take the ball tonight, which could bode well for the Padres' chances of remaining in first place. The talented youngster has yielded two runs or fewer in each of his last 14 starts and amassed an 8-1 record with a stellar 1.51 earned run average over that span. He's struck out an impressive 104 batters in 89 1/3 innings during that time period as well.

The 22-year-old hasn't won in either of his past two starts, but was able to keep the Padres in both games before they eventually lost. The right-hander held Philadelphia to one run in a seven-inning no-decision on August 27, then permitted one run and four hits while fanning 10 Arizona hitters in just six innings against the Diamondbacks this past Wednesday.

Latos, whose 2.25 ERA for the season is tops in the NL at the moment, hasn't had much luck in past matchups with the Dodgers as well. He's 0-2 in three lifetime starts against Los Angeles despite an overall ERA of 3.21, and was handed a tough 2-1 loss at Dodger Stadium on August 3 after surrendering a pair of runs in six innings.

He'll be taking on a Los Angeles squad that lost for the seventh time in nine games last night and failed to capitalize on their scoring chances in Monday's setback. The Dodgers ended the night 1-for-8 with men in scoring position and stranded two baserunners in each inning between the fourth and seventh.

"Opportunities get away, and there's not much more to add to that," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said afterward. "We had nine hits and some situations we didn't deliver."

Los Angeles also didn't get much out of starting pitcher Vicente Padilla (6-5), with the veteran lasting only four innings and allowing three runs on five hits to take the loss.

Torre will be counting on a longer outing from Clayton Kershaw, who'll be out to stop a string of three straight winless starts when he opposes Latos tonight. The hard-throwing southpaw has posted a 2.84 ERA during that stretch, however, and struck out a total of 28 batters in just 19 innings over those three games as well.

Kershaw fanned 11 Philadelphia hitters in six innings last Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park, but was stuck with the loss in a 5-1 verdict after giving up a pair of runs. Five days earlier, the former first-round pick limited Colorado to one run over six frames but didn't factor in the decision of his team's 6-2 win.

The 22-year-old has been tough on the Padres this year, however, permitting only two runs and 10 hits over a combined 14 1/3 innings in a pair of victories over tonight's opponent. He's 4-2 with a 2.55 ERA in nine career encounters with San Diego and sports a 2.08 lifetime ERA at Petco Park.

Los Angeles has won seven of its 13 meetings with the Padres this season and are 4-3 in games played between the teams in San Diego in 2010.

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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.”

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards

College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.