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.

Casono Baseball Betting News

<< Marshall's DeQuan Bembry kicked off football team
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) -Marshall University defensive back DeQuan Bembry has been kicked off the school's football team, some three months after his arrest outside a West Virginia bar.Coach Doc Holliday announced Bembry's dismissal in a news release

<< Kearns lifts Tribe to doubleheader sweep of Detroit
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Austin Kearns hit an RBI single in the bottom of the 11th inning, as the Cleveland Indians edged the Detroit Tigers, 2-1, in the second part of a doubleheader. Robbie Weinhardt (0-1) put runners on

<< Padres hit four homers in win over Diamondbacks
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Gwynn Jr. hit his second inside-the- park home run of the season and Yorvit Torrealba drove in four, as the San Diego Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 8-5, at Petco Park. Gwynn, who has onl

<< Sandoval, Giants handle Mets
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pablo Sandoval went 3-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored as the San Francisco Giants took an 8-4 decision over the New York Mets in the third of a four-game set. Buster Posey hit a solo home run an

<< Rivera's HR lifts Angels to win over M's
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Rivera went 3-for-4 and hit the go-ahead home run in the seventh inning, lifting the Angels to a 7-6 victory over the Seattle Mariners. Mike Napoli went 2-for-4 with a home run for the Angels, who had

Tadini rallies for Challenge Tour win >>
Hildisrieden, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alessandro Tadini fired a seven- under 65 Sunday to come from behind and win the Credit Suisse Challenge on the European Challenge Tour. Tadini finished at 22-under-par 266 for his third Challeng

Braves, Brewers conclude set at Turner Field >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves are shooting for a split of a four-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers Sunday afternoon, when the two ballclubs wrap up a lengthy set from Turner Field. The Braves have dropped two in a row and t

Phillies try to even series with Cubs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies needed some late heroics to stop the Chicago Cubs yesterday afternoon and hope that the momentum will carry over into this evening's finale of a four-game series from Wrigley Field. The Phil

Pirates go with Maholm in finale vs. Astros >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lefty Paul Maholm can establish a rarity for the 2010 Pittsburgh Pirates -- a win streak -- when they host the Houston Astros in the finale of a three-game weekend series today at PNC Park. The Pirates had lost sev

Cook leads Rockies into finale at Reds >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Suburban Cincinnati native Aaron Cook returns home to face a team that's never beaten him today, when the Colorado Rockies head to Great American Ball Park to meet the Reds in the finale of a three-game series. The host

Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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

Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com

For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com

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