Football Betting

Phillies make a quick stop at Colorado

Baseball Betting Lines

09/02/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Given how well the Phillies have played out west over the last week, they certainly won't mind staying there for an extra game. It doesn't hurt that its a matchup against the Rockies either.

Philadelphia will try to wrap up a seven-game swing with a sixth victory and also post its fifth win in a row over Colorado tonight in a make up game at Coors Field.

After a disappointing sweep at the hands of the Astros a week ago, the Phillies headed out west to San Diego and swept a three-game set from the first-place club. They then dropped the opener of a three-game series with the Dodgers, but rebounded to take the final two games of the set.

Philadelphia took Wednesday's rubber match 5-1 behind 6 1/3 solid innings from Roy Oswalt. The right-hander lost a no-hit bid with two outs in the sixth inning and allowed just a single hit in addition to six walks.

"I was a little wild and had no command of my fastball. When I got in trouble I went with the breaking ball. That's the advantage of having four pitches -- when one isn't working you can go to another one. I was able to put enough movement on the ball to keep them off-balance," Oswalt said.

Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino both hit solo homers and Rollins scored three times for the Phillies, who have won 11 of their last 13 on the road. Chase Utley had three doubles and drove in a pair of runs.

The victory allowed Philadelphia to maintain its three-game deficit for first place in the National League East behind Atlanta as well as a 1 1/2-game edge over San Francisco for the Wild Card spot.

The Phillies were unable to gain ground on the Giants due to their 2-1 victory over the Rockies last night. Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez gave up just two runs on four hits with 10 strikeouts over eight innings, but still failed in his fifth straight bid to become the NL's first 18-game winner with a fourth losing decision in a row.

Jimenez was charged with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning on a wild pitch that allowed the Giants' Darren Ford to race towards third. Catcher Miguel Olivo tried to gun him down, but the throw to third sailed high and Ford was able to come home.

Carlos Gonzalez's 30th homer of the season in the fourth inning was the lone offense for Colorado, which has lost two straight after winning seven of eight and is 5 1/2 games behind Philadelphia in the Wild Card race.

Gonzalez is hitting .515 (17-for-33) with five homers and 13 RBI over a nine- game hitting streak.

"As of now we have plenty of games against people we need to catch," Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said. "We kind of control our destiny, even though we are making it a little difficult for ourselves."

This will be the last time the Rockies face the Phillies this year and that is only because the second half of a slated doubleheader on May 12 was rained out. Colorado won the first game on that day at home, but was swept in Philadelphia over four games from July 23-26.

Joe Blanton finished off that sweep with six innings of two-run ball in his first ever appearance versus the Rockies, giving his club 15 wins in the last 18 regular-season meetings with Colorado. The Phils also bested the Rox in four game's in last year's NLDS.

Blanton will try to duplicate that success tonight and improve on his 6-6 season mark and 5.15 earned run average. The right-hander has won his last three decisions though and is 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA over his last three starts. After a no-decision versus the Astros on Aug. 23 despite seven innings of one- run ball, Blanton bested the Padres on Saturday, yielding a run on six hits over six frames of work.

The 29-year-old is just 2-4 with a 6.06 ERA in 10 road starts this season.

The Rockies will counter with Jhoulys Chacin, who has settled down to win two straight starts after a rough return to the rotation two weeks ago.

The right-hander was tagged for five runs over five innings of a loss to the Dodgers on Aug. 17, his first appearance with the Rockies since July 23, but has posted wins over the Diamondbacks and Dodgers since, yielding just a single run and seven hits over 14 2/3 innings.

The 22-year-old righty is 7-9 with a 3.79 ERA in 22 games (15 starts) this season and will make his first career start versus the Phillies tonight. He has, however, thrown 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief against them over two appearances.


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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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MySportsbook.com Posts Heisman Trophy Odds

With 3,919 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and a mere seven interceptions last season, combined with a powerful South Bend Heisman legacy, odds makers at MySportsbook.com have given Notre Dame senior quarterback Brady Quinn the best Heisman Trophy odds at 5-2.

Quinn isn’t the only big man on campus this season.  Oklahoma junior running back and 2004 Heisman runner-up Adrian Peterson, listed at 7-2, rushed for a combined 3,033 yards in his first two years as a college player and will give Quinn a run for his money. 

This online sportsbook has also listed Troy Smith, Ohio State senior quarterback, as another strong favorite to win the 72nd Heisman Trophy.  A 7-1 bet, Smith threw for 2,282 yards last season and also led the Buckeyes to a convincing 34-20 victory over Quinn and the Fighting Irish in last season’s Fiesta Bowl.

Current betting odds Heisman trophy are:

Brady Quinn (QB, Notre Dame)
Adrian Peterson (RB, Oklahoma)
Troy Smith (QB, Ohio State)
Michael Bush (RB, Louisville)
Steve Slaton (RB, West Virginia)
Brian Brohm (QB, Louisville)
Chris Leak (QB, Florida)
Mike Hart (RB, Michigan)
Ted Ginn (WR, Ohio State)
Darius Walker (RB, Notre Dame)
Drew Tate (QB, Iowa)
Marshawn Lynch (RB, Cal)
Kenny Irons (RB, Auburn)
Chad Henne (QB, Michigan)
Kyle Wright (QB, Miami)
Drew Stanton (QB, Michigan State)
Kenneth Darby (RB, Alabama)
JaMarcus Russell (QB, LSU)
Drew Weatherford (QB, Florida State)
Blake Mitchell (QB, South Carolina)
Reggie Ball (QB, Georgia Tech)
5-2
7-2
7-1
10-1
10-1
12-1
12-1
18-1
18-1
20-1
30-1
35-1
35-1
40-1
50-1
50-1
60-1
60-1
60-1
60-1
60-1

For complete NCAA Football odds visit MySportsbook.com.