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06/02/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs hit the road with a seven-game winning streak in tow and will attempt to keep rolling in tonight's clash with the San Diego Padres from Petco Park.
Chicago completed a perfect week-long homestand and a four-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies with Sunday's 5-3 victory at Wrigley Field. The win improved the current National League Central leaders to a major league-best 36-21 on the season.
Aramis Ramirez went 3-for-3 with an RBI in yesterday's triumph, while Jim Edmonds doubled and tripled while knocking in a pair of runs for the Cubs, who also received a solo home run out of Alfonso Soriano.
Chicago starter Sean Gallagher (3-1) struck out a career-high eight batters over 5 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on six hits to pick up the win. Four Cub relievers combined to hold the Rockies scoreless the rest of the way, with Kerry Wood pitching a perfect ninth to earn his 14th save.
The Cubs are now an outstanding 26-8 at Wrigley Field this year, but the long- suffering franchise hasn't matched that success on the road. Chicago is 10-13 in enemy ballparks so far this season and has lost five straight series as the visitor.
Chicago has also struggled on the road against the Padres, who are 6-1 at Petco Park against the Cubs over the previous two seasons.
The Cubs will be putting their ace on display in the opener of this seven-game trek, which begins with three straight meetings with San Diego and continues with a four-game set at Los Angeles. Carlos Zambrano will toe the rubber tonight and puts a string of six consecutive winning decisions on the line, as the excitable right-hander has not lost since an April 11 setback at Philadelphia.
Zambrano delivered another excellent performance on Wednesday, although he did not factor in the decision of the Cubs' 2-1 comeback win over the Dodgers. The All-Star hurler hurled eight innings and held Los Angeles to just one run on six hits.
The native Venezuelan, whose 2.33 earned run average for the season ranks third among NL pitchers, did get credit for a victory when he faced the Padres at Wrigley on May 12. In that game Zambrano allowed three runs on six hits through seven innings.
For his career, Zambrano is 5-1 with a 2.19 ERA in overall starts against San Diego.
The Padres were slated to start Shawn Estes in tonight's opener, but the veteran had to be placed on the disabled list over the weekend after he broke his left thumb after slipping on a flight of starts on Saturday. The club will instead turn to newly-acquired Cha Seung Baek.
Baek came to the Padres this past Wednesday in a trade with the Seattle Mariners and had an impressive debut with his new club on Friday. Baek struck out the side in his lone inning of work against the San Francisco Giants and wound up receiving the win in San Diego's 7-3, 13-inning decision.
The 28-year-old was designated for assignment by the Mariners on May 21 after going 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA over 10 appearances, including one start.
San Diego had won five times in a six-game stretch before falling in extra innings to San Francisco on Sunday. The Giants rallied for three runs in the bottom of the 10th to pull out a 4-3 decision, with Jose Castillo knocking in the game-winning run with an infield single.
The Padres had taken a 3-1 lead on Adrian Gonzalez's two-run homer in the top of the 10th, but closer Trevor Hoffman (0-4) was rocked for four hits and walked one while recording just a single out in the bottom of the frame.
San Diego starter Randy Wolf was very sharp, as the left-hander yielded just one run and four hits while striking out five over six innings.
Chicago won three of four games from the Padres at Wrigley Field in May, but San Diego is 13-6 against the Cubs since the start of the 2006 campaign.
<< Lidstrom ready to make history
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Few things please me as much as watching
old stereotypes get blown to pieces. A hockey myth is headed for extinction,
and Detroit Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom is the man who can finally put
it to rest.
<< Royals hoping to turn page from losing streak
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There aren't enough adjectives to describe the Kansas City
Royals' recent 12-game skid.
Fortunately for the Royals, they can now take solace in the fact that it's
over. And with back-to-back wins to close out their homesta
<< Royals looking to turn the page from losing streak
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There aren't enough adjectives to describe the Kansas City
Royals' recent 12-game skid.
Fortunately for the Royals, they can now take solace in the fact that it's
over. And with back-to-back wins to close out their homesta
<< Twins keeping pace in AL Central
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins can't be displeased with where they
stand entering the month of June.
At 29-27, they are just a game out of first place, which isn't bad at all
considering how inconsistent the team has been through the
Angels play the first of three in Seattle >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of American League West rivals get together tonight
at Seattle's Safeco Field, where the division-leading LA Angels of Anaheim
begin a six-game road trip with the first of three straight meetings with the
last-place M
Rockies try to end road woes in LA >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies will try again for the first victory
of their current 10-game road trip, as they battle the Los Angeles Dodgers
tonight in the opener of a three-game set at Chavez Ravine.
The Rockies are 0-7 s
Reds' Griffey brings his 599 homers to Philadelphia >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ken Griffey Jr. brings his historic home run chase to
Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park, as the Cincinnati Reds take on the Phillies
tonight in the first of four consecutive games.
Griffey belted his 599th career home run
Marlins, Braves open four-game set in Atlanta >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins will continue their 10-game trip
against NL East foes this evening, when they begin a four-game series against
the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field.
Florida was riding a three-game winning streak before l
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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