Cubs seek another win over visiting Phils

Baseball Betting Lines

07/17/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's been all smiles for the Chicago Cubs on their current homestand and they'll go for a series victory this afternoon in the third test of a four-game series versus the Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs opened their 10-game homestand by handing the Phillies a 12-6 loss in Thursday's series opener before taking yesterday's second portion of this series, 4-3, on an Aramis Ramirez solo homer with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. Ramirez ended 3-for-4 with three runs scored and Marlon Byrd tied the game with a two-run homer in the sixth inning for the Cubs, who have won six of their last nine games.

"If that continues," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said on the team's site, "it's like a little forest fire that starts spreading a little bit. Let's keep working and keep playing and hope we keep winning some baseball games."

Ted Lilly started for the Cubs and did not record a decision after giving up three runs in seven innings. Sean Marshall recorded the victory with a scoreless eighth and Carlos Marmol struck out three in the ninth for his 17th save of the season.

Chicago will also host Houston and St. Louis on the residency.

Since beginning the season 3-0 over his first five starts, Cubs starter Randy Wells has struggled mightily. He is just 1-7 with a 5.11 earned run average in his last 13 starts and will take the ball Saturday.

Wells was solid in his last appearance, hurling seven innings of three-run ball in a 3-2 loss at Los Angeles on July 8. He struck out seven Dodgers that day and allowed just one walk before falling to 4-7 overall with a 4.61 ERA.

The right-hander is 2-3 in nine home starts in 2010 and has never faced the Phillies in his career.

Philadelphia entered the All-Star break fresh off a four-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds, but are now having trouble with another NL Central foe. In Friday's tough loss, reliever Ryan Madson gave up Ramirez's bomb to left in the eighth inning to absorb the defeat.

Joe Blanton was decent through the first seven innings and allowed three runs on five hits and three walks with eight K's in the no-decision. Ryan Howard hit a two-run homer and Shane Victorino delivered a solo shot to get the Phils on the board first in the fourth inning.

"We just need to get runs. We need to keep them from scoring runs," Howard said. "Laws of baseball. Outscore the other team."

The Phillies are still 5 1/2 games behind Atlanta for the lead in the National League East, while the New York Mets sit five games off the pace. Both the Braves and Mets lost on Friday. Philadelphia will visit St. Louis for four games after its trip to the Windy City.

Philly hopes that Cole Hamels can stay on the winning side of things when he takes the mound today. Hamels was 1-5 in eight starts before winning his most recent trip to the hill, a 1-0 victory versus Cincinnati on Sunday. He threw 7 2/3 scoreless innings and gave up six hits with three strikeouts and three walks to improve to 7-7 in 18 starts and lower his ERA to 3.78.

Hamels, a left-hander, will try to even his road record Saturday, as he sports a 3-4 ledger in eight away starts this season. The 2008 World Series MVP is 3-1 with a 2.61 ERA in five career starts against the Cubs.

The Phillies had a five-game winning streak at Wrigley Field halted with Thursday's loss, but have still won eight of the past 12 meetings between the ballclubs.

Gambling-sportsbook-online Baseball Betting News

<< Braves aim to bounce back against Brewers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves can't afford to lose any ground in the competitive National League East Division. Tonight they have a good shot at bouncing back with Tim Hudson on the mound in the third test of a four-game series

<< Cards send Wainwright to hill vs. Dodgers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Wainwright will try to become just the second 14-game winner in the major leagues and remain perfect at home when he leads the St. Louis Cardinals into the third test of a four-game series tonight versus the Los Ang

<< Richard, Padres resume series vs. D'Backs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Clayton Richard was bailed out by his offense the last time he took the mound. The San Diego Padres hope that Richard won't need the help when he gets the nod tonight in the second installment of a three-game series versus

<< Mets try to rebound against homestanding Giants
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets are hoping something will give when they take on the San Francisco Giants Saturday night in the third installment of a four-game set at AT&T Park. New York has lost the first two games of this set

<< Szavay, Zahlavova Strycova advance to Prague final
Prague, Czech Republic (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Agnes Szavay and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova were both easy semifinal winners Saturday at the $220,000 Prague Open tennis event. Szavay, last week's Budapest titlist, downed unseeded Czech Lucie

Soderling to meet Almagro in Swedish Open finale >>
Bastad, Sweden (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Swedish stalwart Robin Soderling and Nicolas Almagro will square off in the Swedish Open final after each won their respective semifinal matches on Saturday. Soderling lost the first set for

Reds starter Volquez takes ball vs. Rockies >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One-time Cincinnati staff ace Edinson Volquez makes a long- awaited return to the major leagues tonight, when the Reds host the Colorado Rockies in the middle game of a three-game series at Great American Ball Park. A 1

Astros vie to continue mastery of Buccos >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros can continue a season's worth of success against the Pittsburgh Pirates tonight, when the teams get together for the middle game of a three-game series at PNC Park. Houston made it seven in a row aga

Marlins ace Johnson squares off with Nats >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Johnson can match a Washington pitching gem with one of his own tonight, when the Florida Marlins ace takes on the Nationals in the second test of a three-game series between NL East Division foes at Sun Life Stadium

Angels, Mariners continue set at Big A >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have owned the Seattle Mariners this season and they will try to continue that dominance tonight as the squads resume a four-game set at Angel Stadium. Following last night's 3-2 res

NFL ODDSTop Football Betting Free Agents to Change Teams

NFL Betting

It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.

We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.

Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.

Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.

Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.

NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.

The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

NFL Wagering

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college 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.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.