Cardinals have chance to close gap on struggling Brewers

Baseball Betting Lines

08/14/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers will play the first of three games against the division-rival St. Louis Cardinals this evening at Miller Park.

Milwaukee is just 1 1/2 games ahead of the Chicago Cubs and 5 1/2 in front of the Cardinals in the NL Central standings. The club has struggled a bit as of late, having lost five of seven contests.

In Sunday's 6-4 loss to the Houston Astros in the finale of a three-game series at Minute Maid Park, Geoff Jenkins belted a pair of home runs and J.J. Hardy added a solo shot for the Brewers, who did win the first two games of the set.

Starting pitcher Claudio Vargas gave up two runs on five hits in six innings of work, while Carlos Villanueva suffered the loss in relief after allowing three runs in the eighth.

The Brewers will send struggling starter Chris Capuano to the mound on Tuesday. The lefty hasn't won since pitching eight shutout innings on May 7 against the Washington Nationals.

Capuano, who is 0-9 with a 6.33 ERA in his last 14 starts, absorbed the loss in his previous start on August 7 against the Colorado Rockies. He was reached for four runs in five innings of an 11-4 setback at Coors Field.

Capuano owns a 4-4 record with a 5.20 earned run average in 11 career outings against St. Louis. He is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in two starts against the Cardinals this season.

St. Louis has won two in a row and four of its last five games, including Sunday's 12-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the rubber match of a three-game series at Busch Stadium.

Ryan Ludwick hit a three-run homer and finished with four runs batted in to lead the defending World Series champions. Brendan Ryan, who was recalled from Triple-A Memphis prior to the game, went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer and three RBI for the Cardinals, who are also seven games off the top spot in the NL Wild Card race.

St. Louis starter Anthony Reyes pitched six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits for the win. He also struck out five and walked just one while knocking in a run at the plate.

Taking the ball for the Cardinals this evening will be Kip Wells, who is 5-13 with a 5.26 ERA in 25 games (21 starts) this season. Wells is 1-0 over his past three trips to the hill and the Cardinals are 2-1 over that span.

In his past start on Wednesday against San Diego, Wells permitted just one unearned run in seven innings of a 2-1 triumph at Busch Stadium. He is shooting for back-to-back wins for the first time since late last season.

Wells, a right-hander, is 6-8 with a 4.49 ERA in 20 career starts against Milwaukee. However, he is 0-2 with a 7.50 earned run average in three appearances against the Brewers this season.

Milwaukee is 5-4 against the Cardinals this season, including a 3-0 mark at Miller Park. St. Louis, though, has won the last three meetings.

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Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game

How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.

A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.

Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.

The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).

Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.

The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).

Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.

Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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