Reds, Cardinals resume key set between NL Central's best

Baseball Betting Lines

08/10/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals were able to cut their division deficit in half on Monday thanks to Chris Carpenter's continued domination of the Cincinnati Reds. They'll find the shoe on the other foot this evening.

St. Louis will try to move into a virtual tie with Cincinnati atop the National League Central standings, but first they'll have to deal with Johnny Cueto, who hasn't lost in nearly two months.

Cueto takes the hill for the second contest of this three-game series at Great American Ball Park having gone 5-0 with a 1.55 earned run average over his last eight starts. The 24-year-old hasn't lost since June 18 and is coming off Wednesday's victory over Pittsburgh, when he threw six innings of one-run ball and scattered three hits and two walks while striking out six.

Cueto matched his career high in wins for a season, set last year, and improved to 11-2 with a 3.24 ERA. The right-hander is also undefeated over his last eight starts at home since his lone loss there on April 24, and 5-1 with a 3.90 ERA in 10 starts at Great American Ball Park this year.

The Dominican Republic native is 1-0 with three starts versus the Cardinals this year, but was tagged for eight runs over five innings in a no-decision the last time he faced them, back on June 1 in St. Louis. In eight career starts versus the Cards, he is 3-2 with a 6.39 ERA.

Cueto will try to dominate the Cardinals like Carpenter did his team last night. The former Cy Young Award winner held Cincinnati to a pair of runs on five hits and three walks over seven innings of a 7-3 victory to win his ninth straight start versus the Reds dating back to August of 2006.

Carpenter was also backed by a seven-run fourth inning that featured a grand slam by Skip Schumaker, the first of his career, and RBI hits from Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday and Colby Rasmus. The victory, St. Louis' third in four games, pulled the club within a game of first-place Cincinnati, which had won four straight and seven of eight.

"Those guys over there obviously are in the situation they're in for a good reason. That's because they can hit, one, and they've got some guys over there that can pitch too," said Carpenter of the Reds. "It's definitely a challenge, but every challenge is a good challenge when you're going against a group of guys that you know are going to compete."

Reds rookie pitcher Mike Leake was charged with seven runs -- six earned -- and nine hits over 3 2/3 innings, while Ramon Hernandez had three hits, including an RBI double and ninth-inning homer.

Jim Edmonds went 0-for-4 in his Reds debut after being acquired from the Brewers earlier on Monday. The 40-year-old played with the Cardinals from 2000-07.

His former teammate, Pujols, is hitting .475 (19-for-40) with five homers and 12 RBI over a nine-game hitting streak and is 3-for-14 lifetime versus Cueto.

Jaime Garcia hopes that Pujols can find some success versus his opposition tonight and takes the mound for St. Louis for the first time since picking up his first loss since June 27 Tuesday versus Houston. It was a bad one, as the 24-year-old gave up eight runs -- four earned -- on 10 hits over five innings.

"It was a rough one, definitely a bad outing," said Garcia, who allowed five runs in the second inning. "It was a tough second inning. After that inning, I tried to do the best I could to stay in the game and go as deep as I could."

The left-handed Garcia fell to 9-5 with a 2.53 ERA this year and has won both of his starts versus the Reds in 2010, allowing four runs over 12 1/3 innings.

The Cardinals have won eight of 13 over the Reds this year, taking four of seven so far in Cincinnati. These two clubs wrap up their season series from Sept. 3-5.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Odds

Will he or won't he?  Now that the Dallas Cowboys have a new head coach in Wade Phillips, the big question will be: Does Terrell Owens stay with the team.

Jerry Jones continues to suggest that Terrell Owens will remain with the team.

"I've said that he's back, he's here, he's under contract," Jones said. "In the interviews I've just been through (to hire a new coach), it was very clear to me how highly he's thought of and how much of an impact he had on our offensive success."

Just to be sure though, Terrell Owens cleared out his locker and removed his name plate.

Terrell Owens was among the Cowboys most productive players this past season, catching 85 passes for 1,180 yards and a league-best 13 touchdowns.

But T.O. is due a $3 million roster bonus in June, then a $5 million salary this season. Cutting him before then would save a lot of money and headaches.

Aside from the questions surrounding Terrell Owens, the oddsmakers at MySportsbook.com have concerns over starting quarterback Tony Romo's state of mind and whether he will remain a starting quarterback.  It is also not known how players will adjust to new head coach, Wade Phillips.

Here are the football odds as seen at MySportsbook.com and subject to change after February 10, 2007 if not locked in prior to that date.
Arizona Cardinals 60-1


Atlanta Falcons 50-1


Baltimore Ravens 15-1


Buffalo Bills 50-1


Carolina Panthers 18-1


Chicago Bears 10-1


Cincinnati Bengals 15-1


Cleveland Browns 100-1


Dallas Cowboys 15-1


Denver Broncos 15-1


Detroit Lions 100-1


Green Bay Packers 50-1


Houston Texans 100-1


Indianapolis Colts 6-1


Jacksonville Jaguars 30-1


Kansas City Chiefs 30-1


Miami Dolphins 40-1


Minnesota Vikings 75-1


New England Patriots 10-1


New Orleans Saints 18-1


New York Giants 20-1


New York Jets 30-1


Oakland Raiders 100-1


Philadelphia Eagles 18-1


Pittsburgh Steelers 10-1


Saint Louis Rams 60-1


San Diego Chargers 6-1


San Francisco 49ers 75-1


Seattle Seahawks 20-1


Tampa Bay Buccanneers 75-1


Tennessee Titans 40-1


Washington Redskins 50-1

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