Holliday caps Cards' comeback in ninth for sweep of Dodgers

Baseball Betting Lines

07/18/2010 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Holliday's two-out, game-winning RBI single capped a five-run rally in the final two innings, lifting the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers and a four-game sweep at Busch Stadium.

Entering the ninth protecting a one-run lead, Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton (3-1) couldn't hang on. Yadier Molina, who didn't start due to a scheduled game off, singled and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. After left fielder Xavier Paul made a running grab on Felipe Lopez's fly ball, Jon Jay kept the game alive with a walk.

Allen Craig followed with a single up the middle, scoring Molina without a throw, and Holliday laced a Broxton offering off the wall in right to plate the game-winner in Jay.

Craig, starting at first on his 26th birthday in place of Albert Pujols (rest), finished with two hits and three RBI for the Cardinals, who have won five straight and evened the all-time series between these storied franchises at 998-998-16. Randy Winn added two hits and an RBI in the win.

Ryan Franklin (4-1) earned the win for tossing a scoreless ninth inning.

The Dodgers, who have lost five of six, got six shutout innings from Vicente Padilla before the bullpen faltered. Travis Schlichting gave up two runs in 1 1/3 frames before Justin Miller yielded another run without retiring a batter.

Trailing by four in the eighth, the Cardinals crept closer with three runs off the Dodgers' bullpen.

Schlichting began his second inning on the mound by walking Brendan Ryan. Two batters later, Jay walked, and Craig greeted Miller with a double to left, bringing in both runners. Broxton was quickly summoned from the bullpen, and he allowed a two-out, run-scoring single to Winn to make it a 4-3 game.

Broxton followed by walking Skip Schumaker, but induced a groundout from pinch-hitter Pujols to end the threat and get to the ninth.

The Dodgers managed only one runner in scoring position in the first four innings, but Ronnie Belliard began the fifth with a single. Paul grounded into a fielder's choice before A.J. Ellis' single put runners on the corners.

Padilla stepped up to the plate and belted the first pitch he saw for a double, easily scoring Paul for a 1-0 advantage.

While St. Louis' offense was shut down by Padilla, Los Angeles scored three times in the seventh off Mitchell Boggs to increase its lead. Belliard singled, and Ellis reached on a one-out error. Garret Anderson pinch-hit for Padilla and smacked an RBI double to left before Ellis raced home on a wild pitch. Matt Kemp's walk with the bases loaded later in the inning put the visitors ahead, 4-0.

Game Notes

Dodgers manager Joe Torre celebrated his 70th birthday Sunday...LA first baseman James Loney (hamstring) did not play...St. Louis won the season series, 4-3, with the home team winning each contest...Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez (calf) and catcher Russell Martin (thumb) both sat out...The Cardinals have recorded an extra-base hit in 46 straight games, the longest active streak in the majors...Padilla has allowed two or fewer runs while throwing 6 2/3 innings in four straight starts. He yielded one hit and five walks on Sunday...Jeff Suppan gave up one run on five hits and a walk in six innings in the start for St. Louis...The Cardinals are 15-3 in regular season contests against the Dodgers at new Busch Stadium. St. Louis is also 14-1, including an 8-0 mark against Los Angeles, in games during the first home series following the All-Star break at new Busch Stadium.

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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.

American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.