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09/01/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals are playing themselves out of postseason contention, but at least they'll be able to conclude a horrendous road trip today in the finale of a three-game series against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.
St. Louis has lost four in a row and is 2-7 on a 10-game swing through Pittsburgh, Washington and Houston -- all teams with losing records. It has been shut out in back-to-back 3-0 losses to the Astros and fell seven games behind Cincinnati for the NL Central lead after Tuesday's defeat.
Houston scored all three of its runs in the third inning and Cardinals co-ace Chris Carpenter was saddled with the loss for allowing three runs -- two earned -- and six hits through seven innings. Jon Jay, Matt Holliday and Brendan Ryan provided the three hits for the Cardinals, who still have life in the wild card standings at four games behind Philadelphia.
"Unfortunately it's not going well for us right now," said Carpenter. "We gotta come out [Wednesday] and do everything we can and try to salvage something from this series."
The Cardinals, losers in 12 of their last 16 games, must not overlook today's opponent with the despised Reds set to invade Busch Stadium for three games over the weekend.
Jeff Suppan will be in charge of pulling the Cards to victory and is slated to take the mound Wednesday. Suppan has been on the disabled list with a groin strain and is just 1-4 in eight starts with the Cardinals. He was 0-4 in his previous five outings before besting Pittsburgh the last time out on July 31, when he delivered 5 1/3 shutout innings and five strikeouts.
Suppan, a right-hander, lost to Houston back on July 10, when he permitted four runs in 4 2/3 innings of a 4-1 loss. He is 3-8 with a 5.12 earned run average in 19 career meetings (17 starts) with the Astros.
Houston has been on a roll as of late with eight wins in its last 10 contests. It will be aiming for its second sweep of the Cardinals this season and won all three encounters with them from May 11-13 in the Gateway City.
In last night's second straight blanking of the Cardinals, starter Wandy Rodriguez hurled seven shutout innings of two-hit ball for the win and Brandon Lyon later posted his 10th save in the ninth.
"It's becoming a nice habit to say that our starting pitching did an outstanding job," said Houston manager Brad Mills. "And again, Wandy did a great job again tonight. He's been outstanding for the past two or three months."
Hunter Pence hit a two-run triple during the decisive three-run fourth inning and Chris Johnson added an RBI single two batters later.
Taking the mound for Houston this afternoon will be Nelson Figueroa and he's 1-1 with a 2.15 ERA in 11 games (3 starts) for his ballclub. Figueroa, who also made 13 appearances (1 start) for Philadelphia this season, lost his most recent start on Friday in a 2-1 defeat against the New York Mets. He allowed only two runs -- one earned -- in seven innings.
The right-hander is 2-1 with a 4.14 ERA in 12 career games (4 starts) against the Cardinals.
Houston has won nine of 14 meetings with the Cardinals this season.
<< 2010 World Basketball Championship update - September 1st
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -
Group C: China vs. Russia, 9 a.m. (Ankara)
Group A: Serbia vs. Australia, 9:30 a.m. (Kayseri)
Group B: Croatia vs. Tunisia, 9:30 a.m. (Istanbul)
Group C: Ivory Coast vs. Greece, 11:30 a.m. (Ankara)
Group D: Leban
<< Tickets go on sale for NBA games in London
LONDON (AP) -Tickets have gone on sale for the first regular-season NBA games in Europe.The New Jersey Nets and Toronto Raptors will play a pair of games at the O2 Arena in London on March 4-5. The NBA is planning a week of activities across Britain
<< Long-time Stamps physician Murphy passes away
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Calgary Stampeders physician Dr. Vince Murphy
has passed away at the age of 87, the team announced Tuesday.
Dr. Murphy was associated with the Stampeders since 1957. A release from the
team said Murphy pass
<< Boiman getting crash course in Lions defense
ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) - Rocky Boiman isn't going to get a chance to ease his way into the Detroit Lions' defense.It's going to be more like cramming for final exams in his days at Notre Dame.The veteran linebacker signed with the Detroit Lions earl
Alabama A&M linebacker to sit two games >>
Normal, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NCAA ruled that Alabama A&M's top returning
tackler Afu Okosun must sit out the season's first two games because he played
in one game in 2006 before he was redshirted that season.
Alabama A&M coach
Iowa C Koeppel to miss opener after crash >>
Iowa City, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Iowa senior center Josh Koeppel will miss
Saturday's season opener against Eastern Illinois due to injuries sustained
in a crash on his moped.
The Daily Iowan reported that Koeppel was hit head-on by
New FCS head coaches ready for debuts >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seventeen of the 19 new head coaches at
FCS schools will make their debuts during the first week of games, including
two facing off against each other on the first night of action Thursday.
Dale Carlson wi
Twins' Liriano puts unbeaten streak on line vs. Tigers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Playing at Target Field has usually translated into
success for the Minnesota Twins. And when Francisco Liriano has taken the
mound, the current American League Central leaders have been nearly invincible
as of l
The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
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