Dodgers, Cardinals to face off in NLDS rematch

Baseball Betting Lines

06/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Playing in close games has become a habit of the Los Angeles Dodgers as of late. That wasn't the case the last time they faced the St. Louis Cardinals.

Los Angeles and St. Louis square off for the first time since last season's National League Division Series, a set swept by the Dodgers, with tonight's opener of a three-game set at Chavez Ravine.

Los Angeles is 5-2 on its current 13-game homestand, a residency that has seen the Dodgers win three games in extra innings. In fact, seven of LA's last eight games have been decided by just one run.

The Cardinals would like to keep it that close this evening. The Dodgers marched on to the NLCS last season after a 5-1 victory over the Cards on Oct. 10, a game in which they outhit St. Louis 12-6 and led by four runs after four innings.

That playoff matchup came after the Cardinals won five of seven versus the Dodgers in the regular season, including two of three in Los Angeles. The Dodgers went on to fall to the Phillies in five games in the following round.

A return to the postseason could be in Los Angeles' future they way it has played as of late. The club has won six of its last eight and trails San Diego by a half-game for first place in the National League West following Sunday's 5-4 victory over Atlanta in 11 innings.

Backup catcher A.J. Ellis was the hero thanks to a walk-off RBI single.

"This is definitely the most special," said Ellis when asked where this ranks among all the hits in his career. "The team kept giving me chances to drive somebody in and finally on my third try, I was able to get it done."

Carlos Monasterios makes his third start in a row for the Dodgers and he is 2-0 with a 1.87 earned run average in 14 games, including three starts, this season.

The rookie right-hander got a no-decision in Wednesday's 1-0 extra-inning victory over Arizona despite throwing five scoreless innings of two-hit ball without a walk. His outing was cut short, however, due to a blister that shouldn't prevent the 24-year-old from facing the Cardinals for the first time in his career tonight.

The Cardinals, who are tied with the Reds for first place in the NL Central, will look to get back in the win column tonight after Sunday's 4-3 loss to the Brewers snapped a three-game win streak. St. Louis suffered a defeat and failed to record a three-game sweep when Milwaukee's Corey Hart plated a 10th- inning run with a sacrifice fly.

Colby Rasmus and Albert Pujols homered in the loss, in which the Cardinals struck out 12 times in the game, including 10 times versus Brewers starter Manny Parra.

"You want to win every game, but the plan is to win two out of three," shortstop Brendan Ryan told St. Louis' website. "Obviously we had a chance to sweep, but shoot, good pitching is tough to beat and Parra was outstanding tonight."

Pujols remained red-hot over a seven-game hitting streak, going .458 (11 for-24) over the burst with five homers and 10 RBI. Matt Holliday, meanwhile, ran his hit streak to 10 games and is batting .421 (16-for-38) with a homer and seven RBI over his burst.

Rasmus, who has three homers over his last five games, left last night's game early due to tightness in his left calf and was replaced by Randy Winn, who made his first appearance with the Cardinals since signing on Saturday. That came just over a week after he was released by the New York Yankees.

Manger Tony La Russa has yet to select a starter for this game, but it is believed that it will be either P.J. Walters or Blake Hawksworth. Walters' last two appearances have been starts, while Hawksworth has yet to start a game in his major league career.

The right-handed Walters, who has never faced the Dodgers, pitched well in his first start on May 27 versus San Diego, throwing five shutout innings of four- hit ball in a win. However, he was tagged for seven runs on eight hits over just four frames Tuesday versus the Reds, but got a no-decision in his team's 9-8 loss and is 1-0 with a 6.23 ERA in three overall appearances on the season.

The right-handed Hawksworth was one of five pitchers used in relief of Walters on Tuesday, as he recorded the last two outs of the seventh inning while working around a hit. In two career relief outings versus Los Angeles, the 27- year-old is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA over four innings of work.

Hawksworth was 4-0 with a 2.03 ERA in 30 outings last year and is 0-2 with a 5.14 ERA in 18 games this season.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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