07/24/2008 - San Francisco, CA (Baseball Betting) - Matt Cain threw a four-hit shutout and Dave Roberts singled home the winning run in the eighth inning as the San Francisco Giants completed a three-game sweep over the Washington Nationals with a 1-0 victory.
Cain (6-8) spearheaded the Giants' first home sweep of the season, as the club completed a seven-game season-series sweep of the Nationals. The righty did not walk a batter and managed four strikeouts, tossing 81 of his 113 pitches for strikes in his first shutout since 2006.
Roberts, playing in his first game since April 7, was 2-for-4 at the plate, while Aaron Rowand added two hits for San Francisco, which was swept in three games by Milwaukee coming into the series.
Tim Redding (7-5) threw the first complete game of his seven-year career, but took the loss after allowing a run on seven hits with no walks and five strikeouts. Ryan Zimmerman and Cristian Guzman both doubled in the Nationals' sixth loss in eight games.
After 7 1/2 scoreless innings the Giants played small ball to account for the game's only run. Steve Holm led off the eighth with a single to left and Cain moved pinch-runner Eugenio Velez into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt.
Roberts went down 1-2 in the count, but managed to punch a single past a diving Guzman at short, and the speedy Velez scored without a throw.
Cain came out in the ninth to complete his shutout. After fanning Jesus Flores, Willie Harris beat out an infield single and Guzman doubled down the left field line.
After a brief coaching visit to the mound, Giants manager Bruce Bochy left Cain in the game and the decision proved correct. Zimmerman's pop fly to right wasn't deep enough to score a run, and Austin Kearns flied to right to conclude the pitching masterpiece.
Game Notes
The Giants are still a mere 20-31 at home this season...The 36-year-old Roberts was sidelined for most of the year after having knee surgery in April...Redding is still winless in eight appearances -- six starts -- against San Fran...It was the Giants first season sweep against an opponent since taking all six games against the Mets in 2002.
<< Andersen heads back to Denver
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets signed forward Chris Andersen
to an undisclosed contract Thursday.
The 6-foot-10, 228-pound versatile forward began his career with Denver in the
2001-02 campaign. After spending three seas
<< Liverpool's Leto to join Olympiakos on loan
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liverpool's Argentinian midfielder
Sebastian Leto is set to spend next season out on loan with Greek side
Olympiakos.
The 21-year-old made four appearances for the Reds last season an
<< Romero, Vaughan share lead at Senior British Open
Ayrshire, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eduardo Romero and Bruce Vaughan opened
with rounds of three-under 68 on Thursday to share the lead after the first
round of the Senior British Open Championship.
Andy Bean, John Cook, Kirk Hanefel
<< Mets move ahead of Phils in NL East behind Perez, Delgado
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Delgado's two-run double in the eighth
inning provided the winning margin, and the New York Mets moved into first
place in the National League East with a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia
Phillie
Kirilenko advances, second-seeded Srebotnik upset at Slovenia Open >>
Portoroz, Slovenia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko
needed little time to advance to the quarterfinals of the $145,000 Banka Koper
Slovenia Open, but second-seeded Katarina Srebotnik wasn't so fortunate on her
home tu
Sabres sign LW Darche >>
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Sabres signed left wing Mathieu
Darche on Thursday. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
Darche, 31, played in 73 games last season with the Tampa Bay Lightning,
posting career highs
Knicks sign free agent Roberson >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Knicks signed free agent guard
Anthony Roberson, the club announced Thursday.
Terms of the pact were not disclosed, although the New York Post reports it is
a two-year deal with the first year
Padres reinstate Bard, recall Hampson, option Carlin and Thatcher >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres reinstated catcher
Josh Bard from the 15-day disabled list and recalled pitcher Justin Hampson
from Triple-A Portland on Thursday.
Bard has been shelved since May 22 with a left
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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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.
Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.
Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.
Memphis vs. Ohio State
Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.
UCLA vs. Kansas
In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.
With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action. Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”. By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.
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