Rockies to open homestand with last-place Diamondbacks
Baseball Betting Lines
07/03/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies are back home after a lengthy road trip and will open a three-game series tonight against the National League West-rival Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field.
Colorado went 5-4 on a nine-game road swing through Anaheim, Oakland and Los Angeles and dropped two of three matchups with the Dodgers, including Wednesday's 1-0 loss behind Rafael Furcal's pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth inning off Rockies starter Jason Hammel. Hammel pitched brilliantly, allowing only that one run on five hits with five strikeouts through eight innings.
"(Furcal) hit a good pitch," Hammel said. "You have to tip your hat to him -- their bullpen did a good job. It was a good game."
Brad Hawpe had two hits and Ian Stewart recorded the other one for Colorado, which is one game off the NL Wild Card lead and will kick off a 10-game homestand versus Arizona, Washington and Atlanta on Friday. The Rockies have won five straight and eight of their last nine games at Coors Field.
Jorge De La Rose will try to keep the home winning streak intact when he toes the rubber for Colorado tonight. De La Rosa has won two straight and four of his last five starts and is coming off an 11-9 victory at Oakland on Saturday. He held the Athletics to two runs and five hits in six innings, while striking out five batters and walking two.
De La Rosa improved to 4-7 in 15 2009 starts and lowered his earned run average from 5.85 to 5.64. The lefty, who is only 1-5 in seven home starts this season, will take on Arizona for the second time in 2009. De La Rosa was the hard-luck loser in an April 22 with the Diamondbacks in Phoenix, where he allowed just two runs over 6 2/3 frames of a 2-0 setback.
He is 1-2 with a 2.57 ERA through eight career appearances (4 starts) against the Diamondbacks.
Arizona has been playing poorly the past month and has lost two straight, seven of eight and 16 of the past 22 games. The D-Backs just lost the last two contests of a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park, including Thursday's 3-2 defeat in 12 innings.
Mark Reynolds homered and Chad Tracy knocked in the other run for Arizona, which got a decent start from Doug Davis. The left-hander threw seven innings of one-run ball and gave up seven hits with five strikeouts and four walks in the no-decision. Clay Zavada was saddled with the loss for giving up an RBI single to Joey Votto in the bottom of the 10th inning.
"We didn't find a way to get the last piece," D-Backs manager A.J. Hinch said after the tough loss. "It's a bad feeling to not be able to win close games and we're playing a lot of them."
Max Scherzer will try to reverse Arizona's fortunes tonight on the Colorado mound. Scherzer was 3-0 in four starts before losing his latest outing on Sunday versus the Angels at Chase Field, where he yielded eight runs -- three earned -- on four hits in just 4 1/3 innings.
The righty fell to 5-5 in 15 starts this season and watched his ERA rise from 3.53 to 3.67. Scherzer lost his only appearance against Colorado on September 19 of last season at Coors Field, as he gave up three runs and seven hits in six innings of a 3-2 loss. He struck out eight and walked one batter.
The 2009 season series between Arizona and Colorado is tied at three games apiece, with all six games played in Phoenix. The D-Backs went 15-3 against the Rockies last season, including a 7-2 mark in Denver.
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the Baltimore Orio
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Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Five-time champion Roger Federer defeated Tommy Haas in Friday's men's semifinal action at Wimbledon. The iconic Federer will now appear in a men's record seventh straight Wimbledon final on Sunday.
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probably doesn't mind, since he is finally done serving his 50-game suspension
for violating the
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Over 487 career contests
2007 NFL Football Betting Preview
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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