Cardinals have brooms ready for Dodgers

Baseball Betting Lines

07/18/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals aim for their fifth straight win and a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers when the two storied franchises close out their series today at Busch Stadium.

St. Louis' last four-game sweep of the Dodgers occurred from July 13-16, 2006 in the Gateway City. The Cardinals have outscored the Dodgers, 17-5, in the first three portions of this series and are coming off Saturday's 2-0 victory behind Adam Wainwright's 14th win of the season. Wainwright threw six shutout innings to improve to 10-0 in 10 starts at home and Ryan Franklin got the final out of the game for his 17th save.

"For the starting pitchers, working and sweating, for Wainwright to go six innings out there on three days' rest. That was clutch and outstanding," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.

Skip Schumaker and Brendan Ryan had an RBI apiece, while Albert Pujols finished 0-for-3 with a run scored for St. Louis, which is still a half-game behind Cincinnati for the NL Central lead and will welcome Philadelphia to Busch Stadium for four games after this set with LA.

Cardinals starter Jeff Suppan is still in search of his first win of the season and will handle pitching duties this afternoon. Suppan was 0-2 in 15 games (2 starts) with Milwaukee before being picked up by St. Louis, and is 0-3 with a 4.88 earned run average in five starts with his new club.

The right-hander has lost three straight trips to the hill and previously performed on July 10 in a 4-1 setback at Houston. Suppan gave up four runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings of work to fall to 0-5 overall this season. He hasn't posted a decision in two relief appearances against the Dodgers this season.

Suppan is 4-4 with a 4.02 ERA in 12 lifetime meetings (10 starts) with LA.

Los Angeles hopes to salvage the finale of this series after losing the first three installments. Hiroki Kuroda was dealt the tough-luck loss last night and allowed one run and four hits in six innings with eight strikeouts.

Rafael Furcal and Blake DeWitt had two hits apiece, and slugger Manny Ramirez missed the game with an injured calf. Catcher Russell Martin also did not play Saturday due to a balky thumb and both players are day-to-day.

"You've got to give Wainwright a lot of credit," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "He gets you in a situation where he's got so many weapons."

Torre will hand the ball to streaking starter Vicente Padilla today and he has won three consecutive starts. He previously won on Sunday in a 7-0 blanking of the Chicago Cubs, as Padilla delivered eight shutout innings and six strikeouts to improve to 4-2 in nine starts with a 4.04 ERA.

Padilla, 1-1 in five road starts this season, will face St. Louis for the first time in 2010. He is 2-1 with a 3.68 ERA in seven career games, three of which have been starts, against the Cardinals.

The Dodgers, who are 4 1/2 games off the NL West lead, swept a three-game set at home versus the Cardinals from June 7-9 after losing five of seven to the club last season.

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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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El Duque expected to throw Tuesday

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.

Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.

El Duque's health is a major issue for the Mets, who won the NL East in 2007 and came within one victory of the World Series. Their aging and unsettled rotation is a big question mark this year.

MySportsbook.com has the Mets as -110 favorites to repeat as NL East champions odds. 

Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.

New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until at least midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Jason Vargas, plus veterans Chan Ho Park, Jorge Sosa and Aaron Sele.

Notes: Mets manager Willie Randolph is excited about two new utility players he could have on his bench: Damion Easley and David Newhan. ''Their value is really all over the place,'' Randolph said. Easley can play anywhere in the infield and could be used as an emergency outfielder, though Randolph said he would prefer to keep the veteran in the infield. Newhan, meanwhile, can play second base, third or any outfield position for the Mets. ''I love versatility,'' Randolph said. ''I love guys that can give me options when I need them to step in.''

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