07/23/2008 - (Baseball Betting) - The St. Louis Cardinals are losing ground to the hard- charging Milwaukee Brewers in the playoff race. An encounter with CC Sabathia may not bode well for Tony La Russa's club's chances of reversing that trend.
Sabathia will try to pitch the red-hot Brewers to a seventh consecutive victory and a third straight win over the Cardinals when the National League Central members continue an important four-game series tonight at Busch Stadium.
The 2007 American League Cy Young Award winner has been everything the Brewers were hoping for when the organization acquired Sabathia in a trade with the Cleveland Indians earlier this month. The burly left-hander has won all three of his starts with Milwaukee, two of which came with complete-game performances, and has yielded just six runs (5 earned) over 24 innings with his new team.
Sabathia dominated the San Francisco Giants this past Friday, going the distance on a four-hitter in Milwaukee's 9-1 win. He did not walk a batter on the night and piled up 10 strikeouts to record his sixth straight winning decision.
Over the course of his unbeaten run, Sabathia has posted a 1.83 earned run average in eight starts and amassed double-digit strikeout totals in four of those outings.
The Brewers now own a one-game lead on St. Louis for the top spot in the NL Wild Card standings after winning the first two games of this set. Milwaukee has also closed within a single game of first-place Chicago, which has lost back-to-back tilts to Arizona, in the division.
Milwaukee recorded its latest victory in come-from-behind fashion, rallying for four runs over the final three innings to earn a 4-3 win over the Cards. Bill Hall put the Brewers ahead to stay when he belted a solo homer off Kyle McClellan with two out in the top of the ninth.
The Cardinals held a 3-1 lead behind Kyle Lohse after seven innings, but the St. Louis starter was touched for two runs on three hits in the top of the eighth. Rickie Weeks had a key RBI double for Milwaukee during the frame and scored the tying run on a J.J. Hardy single.
Hardy and Prince Fielder each ended 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Brewers, while starting pitcher Jeff Suppan allowed three runs over seven innings in his first appearance following a short stint on the disabled list.
Brian Shouse (4-1) picked up the victory after holding the Cardinals scoreless in the bottom of the eighth.
Lohse surrendered three runs on seven hits in eight innings of work. The right-hander added seven strikeouts while not walking a batter.
Braden Looper has the tough task of opposing Sabathia tonight. The converted reliever will likely need to improve off his last start, when Looper was tagged for six runs and eight hits in a three-inning no-decision against San Diego on Friday.
Looper is 9-7 on the season but hasn't won in four straight starts, having received two losses and a pair of no-decisions while pitching to a 6.52 ERA over that span.
The 33-year-old is 4-5 with a 4.76 ERA in 31 career games, five of which have been in a starting role, against Milwaukee. Looper is 1-1 with a 4.09 ERA in two starts versus the Brewers this season, with the win coming at Busch Stadium back in April.
Milwaukee holds a 7-4 advantage in the 2008 season series with St. Louis and has won in three of its five visits to Busch Stadium this year.
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GO-TO-GUYS
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In part two of MySportsbook.com’s draft preview, we’ll take a look at a division that was extremely disappointing last season: the NFC South. Many “experts” predicted the Panthers to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, of course they could not even make the playoffs in an extremely weak NFC. The Saints definitely made up for the disappointing seasons of their NFC South brethren by exploding out of no where en route to the NFC Championship game. For the avid NFL gambler, it is imperative to pay attention to the NFL draft. Although free agency gets a ton of publicity, the successful franchises build their teams around the draft.
1. New Orleans Saints
Who would have thought this time last year that the Saints would be the favorites to win the NFC South for the 2007 campaign? New Orleans is loaded with firepower on the offensive side of the ball but with the exodus of Joe Horn they will most likely look to draft a WR on Day 1. Despite having the NFL’s 3rd ranked pass defense last season, the Saints will most likely upgrade their CB’s with one of their first two picks. Other possibilities for the Saints will be TE and DT. Because of where they will be selecting (27th), the Saints could go the “best available player” route which could net a LB.
Key additions: Eric Johnson TE, Troy Evans LB, David Patten WR
Key loses: Joe Horn WR,
Team needs: CB, WR, TE, LB, DT
Possible draftees: Aaron Ross CB Texas, Darrelle Revis CB Pitt, Ted Ginn Jr. WR OSU, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Chris Houston CB Arkansas, Greg Olsen TE Miami
2. Carolina Panthers
Carolina was one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL last season. With the signing of David Carr, expect the very first quarterback controversy to come out of Carolina if Jake Delhomme doesn’t rebound quickly from an average 2007 season. With veteran safety Mike Minter getting up there in age, they will look to draft a safety on Day 1 but probably not in the first round. LB is another need with the loss of Chris Draft to go along with Dan Morgan’s concussion problems. If TE Greg Olsen is still on the board, he might be too good to pass up despite their needs on the defensive side of the ball.
Key additions: David Carr QB
Key loses: Chris Draft LB
Team needs: LB, TE, S, OT
Possible draftees: Greg Olsen TE Miami, Patrick Willis LB Ole Miss, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Levi Brown OT PSU
3. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were another NFC South team to have a disappointing 2007 season. The Falcons have been plenty busy during the off season with plenty of players coming and going including a new head coach. The Falcons were able to improve their draft position with the trade of coveted backup QB Matt Schaub. High on the list of Day 1 needs will be a defensive end to replace Patrick Kerney and a hard hitting safety since Lawyer Milloy is nearing the end of his career. With an additional 2nd round pick, the Falcons could attempt to trade up to acquire local product WR Calvin Johnson.
Key additions: Joey Harrington QB, Toniu Fonoti OG, Joe Horn WR
Key loses: Justin Griffen RB, Patrick Kerney DE, Matt Lehr OG, Ashley Lelie WR, Matt Schaub QB
Team needs: DE, S, OT, WR, DT
Possible draftees: LaRon Landry S LSU, Amobi Okoye DT Louisville, Levi Brown OT PSU, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas, Alan Branch DT Michigan
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Age really caught up to the Bucs last season. The Bucs still have plenty of household names on defense in Ronde Barber, Simeon Rice and Derrick Brooks but the one thing those three have in common is unfortunately age. It is imperative for the Bucs to get much younger, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Despite having bigger needs on the defensive side of the ball, WR Calvin Johnson is the most likely pick if he is still available when the Bucs pick at the four spot. This would suit Bucs’ faithful just fine as Johnson is widely considered the top talent in the draft and it is a position of need for the Bucs.
Key additions: Jeff Garcia QB, Kevin Carter DE, Torrie Cox CB, Cato June LB
Key loses: Dewayne White DE, Sean Mahan OG
Team needs: WR, LB, DE, CB (Youth on defense!)
Possible draftees: Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech, Gains Adams DE Clemson, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas
It is never too early to start betting on the NFL. Log on to MySportsbook.com to checkout all of the NFL futures for the upcoming season. On the clock: the NFC North
Odds to win the NFC South:
New Orleans Saints 8-5
Carolina Panthers 2-1
Atlanta Falcons 12-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-2
Odds to win the NFC:
New Orleans Saints 13-2
Carolina Panthers 7-1
Atlanta Falcons 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25-1
Odds to win the Super Bowl:
New Orleans Saints 18-1
Carolina Panthers 20-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 75-1
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