09/06/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Doomed once again to the role of spoilers, the Reds are at least embracing their duty. Cincinnati tries to hand the Chicago Cubs a seventh straight loss tonight in the middle portion of a three-game series at Great American Ball Park.
At 63-78, the Reds aren't going to the postseason for a 13th straight season. However, the future in Cincinnati is bright after Friday's 10-2 win in this series opener.
Jay Bruce hit a grand slam -- the first of his career -- and Joey Votto homered for a third straight game to lift the Reds. Votto's blast was a two- run shot and he finished with three RBI and two runs scored in the victory, the Reds' fifth in seven games.
Koyie Hill doubled and knocked in a run for the Cubs, who began a nine-game road trip by extending their losing streak to a season-high six games. Ted Lilly took the loss, while Jon Lieber served up Bruce's grand slam.
Chicago has been shutout twice, and despite leading the league in runs scored has crossed the plate just 14 times during its current skid.
Also, the first-place Cubs' lead in the National League Central fell to four games over Milwaukee.
The top home team in the NL, the Cubs have won six of nine versus the Reds at home this year, but are just 1-3 at Great American Ball Park.
Chicago turns to Jason Marquis tonight. The right-hander suffered a tough-luck loss last time out to halt a three-decision winning streak, taking the loss versus Houston on Monday despite allowing just two runs on five hits over six innings of a 3-0 setback. Marquis also struck out a season-high eight.
Marquis is 9-8 with a 4.46 earned run average this year, but his ERA in 11 road starts is much better at 3.12. He is 5-3 away from the Windy City.
The 30-year-old has yet to face the Reds this year, but is 5-3 lifetime against them with a 5.06 ERA in 13 games (12 starts).
Reds rookie Johnny Cueto takes the hill tonight for the first time since August 24 in Colorado. Cueto lasted just three innings on that day, allowing an unearned run on three walks and zero hits. He has given up just two earned runs in his last three outings, but was sidelined due to a right elbow ailment.
The 22-year-old righty is 8-12 with a 4.65 ERA this year and 1-2 with a 3.66 ERA versus the Cubs. He lost to them on August 19 despite seven innings of one-run ball.
<< Indians continue set with Royals
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians try to continue their recent mastery
of the Kansas City Royals this evening when the AL Central rivals resume a
three-game series at Kauffman Stadium.
Cleveland has won its last four against the Royal
<< Mets, Phillies continue NL East battle
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies are trying to make their last
trip to Shea Stadium a memorable one. One day after cutting into the New York
Mets' lead for the top spot in the division, the two clubs play the middle
portion of a thr
<< Pujols tries to continue torrid pace in middle tilt with Fish
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Despite Albert Pujols' continued hot-hitting, the St.
Louis Cardinals have been unable to come up with a winning streak. The club
will try to avoid falling further back in the National League wild card race
in the continuat
<< Francis hopes to keep Rox rolling against Astros
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Francis is starting to show signs of being a pitcher
who won 17 games last season. Francis takes the hill for the Colorado Rockies
tonight in the middle portion of a three-game series with the Houston Astros
at Coors F
Tropical Storm Hanna postpones Mets/Phils >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saturday's game between the Philadelphia
Phillies and New York Mets has been postponed due to rain as Tropical Storm
Hanna makes its way up the East Coast.
The game will be made up as part of a day
Setzer grabs pole for truck race at Gateway >>
Madison, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dennis Setzer captured his first pole in the
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in seven years by winning Saturday's qualifying
for the Camping World 200 at the Gateway International Raceway just outside
St. Lo
Federer rolls into another U.S. Open final >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Federer outlasted Novak Djokovic
Saturday and kept alive his chances for a fifth straight U.S. Open title.
The second-seeded and reigning four-time champion Federer downed the third-
seeded N
Bills Pro Bowl T Peters ends holdout >>
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Buffalo Bills Pro Bowl left tackle
Jason Peters ended his holdout and reported to the team on Saturday.
Peters declined comment on the holdout, but he did take a physical on
Saturday. He
NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year
Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.
Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.
With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.
Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.
Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.
Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to bet on the NBA. With the regular season about to hit the homestretch, it is important to point out that MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting