Dodgers send out Billingsley on short rest to face Giants

Baseball Betting Lines

07/31/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In danger of losing a fourth straight game, the Los Angeles Dodgers are in need of a spark. That could come from work-horse Chad Billingsley, who will pitch on three days' rest for the first time in his career this afternoon in the continuation of a three-game series versus the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park.

With Clayton Kershaw serving a five-game suspension for intentionally hitting San Francisco's Aaron Rowand in a game last week, the Dodgers are in need of a starter for this contest and will go with Billingsley on short rest.

Billingsley will take the hill after throwing six shutout innings in a 2-0 win over the Padres on Tuesday. The right-hander threw 84 pitches six days after firing a five-hit shutout over the Giants.

"There's always a little concern because we don't do [short rest] much," LA pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said on his team's website. "I think we only did it with Derek Lowe before. You never really know. But the way he's throwing and his last outing, we're using his judgment."

Billingsley, who turned 26 on Thursday, is 9-5 with a 4.00 earned run average this year and his win over the Giants last week improved him to 5-2 with a 3.22 ERA in his career against them. Both shutouts thrown by Billingsley in his career have come versus San Francisco.

He'll try to right the ship for the Dodgers, who are just 5-10 since the All- Star break after losing last night's opener to the Giants, 6-5. With San Francisco All-Star closer Brian Wilson unavailable due to a back ailment, the Dodgers scored three times in the ninth inning to get within one, but the rally fell short.

Scott Podsednik tripled in a run and scored on a wild pitch in the frame, while Matt Kemp's two-out single to center scored Rafael Furcal. However, Chris Ray got Casey Blake to ground into a fielder's choice to end the game.

"The last inning we're four down and it started from the first swing of the bat," said LA manager Joe Torre on his team's website. "Nobody threw their hands up. At the end we had the tying run at third, the possible winning run at first and an RBI guy at the plate."

Furcal went 3-for-3 with a homer run, two walks and a double for the Dodgers, who remained seven games behind first-place San Diego in the National League West, while the Giants moved within 2 1/2 games of the top spot by winning for the seventh time in nine games.

Aubrey Huff paced San Francisco's offense with three hits, a home run and three RBI, while Ray's save preserved the win for Tim Lincecum, who gave up two early runs over seven innings while striking out nine.

The Giants will try to make it two victories in a row tonight behind Barry Zito, but he has just one win over his last eight starts and will try to avoid a third straight losing start today.

The left-hander yielded two runs over 7 1/3 innings of a tough-luck loss to the Dodgers and Billingsley on July 21, then gave up three runs on eight hits over 6 1/3 frames of a 4-3 defeat to the Marlins on Monday.

Zito, 32, is now 8-6 with a 3.49 ERA this year and his career record versus the Dodgers slipped to an even 6-6 with a 4.01 ERA. He is, however, 6-2 with a 2.65 ERA in 11 home starts this season.

Los Angeles has won six of 10 from the Giants this season.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

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)

The 2008 NFL betting lines season is almost upon us! If you like to bet on the NFL, you are in the best possible place for online betting. The sportsbook has NFL odds up on a ton of futures, and you will also find NFL lines up for early games as well. Join sportbook today and we'll help guide you right through to Super Bowl XLIII and beyond!

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .

Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament odds  
As of February 9, MySportsbook.com has released its coveted 2007 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament betting odds. “March Madness betting ” only a month away, the top ranked Florida Gators are favorite at 7-2 to win it all. The defending champs have not disappointed at all this season and currently have a 22-2 record and are undefeated (9-0) in SEC play. The Gators’ thrive off of their extremely balanced, experienced and versatile attack. All five starters started in last seasons National Championship game. What is most impressive with this group is their balance; the five starters all average between 10.7 and 13.6 PPG. The Gators have been on an absolute roll having won 15 straight by an average of 16.4 PPG.

Right behind the Gators are the 5th ranked UNC Tar Heels at 9-2. The Heels (21-3, 7-2) are absolutely loaded with top notch talent and are as deep as any team in the country. A concern for the Tar Heels might be inexperience. Of their top four scorers/ minute earners, three are freshmen and the other is a sophomore. The rest of the regular season, the Tar Heels play only one team that is currently ranked (Duke). Their remaining opponents do combine for an impressive 107-58 record though.

Other teams that the MySportsbook.com members seem to believe will win it all include the west coasts’ top team #2 UCLA (6-1), #3 OSU behind man-child Greg Oden (8-1), and #4 Wisconsin (10-1) behind their defense which has given up 70+ points only three times all season.

Below is a list of some of the favorites to win the 2007 Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship lines. For the full list of teams and March Madness odds be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com. If you want to use your credit card to bet on college hoops or any other event, MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

Arizona 20-1

Butler 20-1

Duke 30-1

Florida 7-2

Georgetown 30-1

Indiana 35-1

Kansas 15-1

Marquette 25-1

Maryland 40-1

Memphis 50-1

Nevada 50-1

UNC 9-2

OSU 8-1

Oregon 30-1

Pittsburgh 15-1

Texas 30-1

Texas A&M 18-1

UCLA 6-1

Wisconsin 10-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook betting needs.