Dodgers, Cardinals to face off in NLDS rematch

Baseball Betting Lines

06/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Playing in close games has become a habit of the Los Angeles Dodgers as of late. That wasn't the case the last time they faced the St. Louis Cardinals.

Los Angeles and St. Louis square off for the first time since last season's National League Division Series, a set swept by the Dodgers, with tonight's opener of a three-game set at Chavez Ravine.

Los Angeles is 5-2 on its current 13-game homestand, a residency that has seen the Dodgers win three games in extra innings. In fact, seven of LA's last eight games have been decided by just one run.

The Cardinals would like to keep it that close this evening. The Dodgers marched on to the NLCS last season after a 5-1 victory over the Cards on Oct. 10, a game in which they outhit St. Louis 12-6 and led by four runs after four innings.

That playoff matchup came after the Cardinals won five of seven versus the Dodgers in the regular season, including two of three in Los Angeles. The Dodgers went on to fall to the Phillies in five games in the following round.

A return to the postseason could be in Los Angeles' future they way it has played as of late. The club has won six of its last eight and trails San Diego by a half-game for first place in the National League West following Sunday's 5-4 victory over Atlanta in 11 innings.

Backup catcher A.J. Ellis was the hero thanks to a walk-off RBI single.

"This is definitely the most special," said Ellis when asked where this ranks among all the hits in his career. "The team kept giving me chances to drive somebody in and finally on my third try, I was able to get it done."

Carlos Monasterios makes his third start in a row for the Dodgers and he is 2-0 with a 1.87 earned run average in 14 games, including three starts, this season.

The rookie right-hander got a no-decision in Wednesday's 1-0 extra-inning victory over Arizona despite throwing five scoreless innings of two-hit ball without a walk. His outing was cut short, however, due to a blister that shouldn't prevent the 24-year-old from facing the Cardinals for the first time in his career tonight.

The Cardinals, who are tied with the Reds for first place in the NL Central, will look to get back in the win column tonight after Sunday's 4-3 loss to the Brewers snapped a three-game win streak. St. Louis suffered a defeat and failed to record a three-game sweep when Milwaukee's Corey Hart plated a 10th- inning run with a sacrifice fly.

Colby Rasmus and Albert Pujols homered in the loss, in which the Cardinals struck out 12 times in the game, including 10 times versus Brewers starter Manny Parra.

"You want to win every game, but the plan is to win two out of three," shortstop Brendan Ryan told St. Louis' website. "Obviously we had a chance to sweep, but shoot, good pitching is tough to beat and Parra was outstanding tonight."

Pujols remained red-hot over a seven-game hitting streak, going .458 (11 for-24) over the burst with five homers and 10 RBI. Matt Holliday, meanwhile, ran his hit streak to 10 games and is batting .421 (16-for-38) with a homer and seven RBI over his burst.

Rasmus, who has three homers over his last five games, left last night's game early due to tightness in his left calf and was replaced by Randy Winn, who made his first appearance with the Cardinals since signing on Saturday. That came just over a week after he was released by the New York Yankees.

Manger Tony La Russa has yet to select a starter for this game, but it is believed that it will be either P.J. Walters or Blake Hawksworth. Walters' last two appearances have been starts, while Hawksworth has yet to start a game in his major league career.

The right-handed Walters, who has never faced the Dodgers, pitched well in his first start on May 27 versus San Diego, throwing five shutout innings of four- hit ball in a win. However, he was tagged for seven runs on eight hits over just four frames Tuesday versus the Reds, but got a no-decision in his team's 9-8 loss and is 1-0 with a 6.23 ERA in three overall appearances on the season.

The right-handed Hawksworth was one of five pitchers used in relief of Walters on Tuesday, as he recorded the last two outs of the seventh inning while working around a hit. In two career relief outings versus Los Angeles, the 27- year-old is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA over four innings of work.

Hawksworth was 4-0 with a 2.03 ERA in 30 outings last year and is 0-2 with a 5.14 ERA in 18 games this season.

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FOOTBALL BETTING LINES

NFL Football Sports Betting

Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.

New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.

His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.

HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.

The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.

RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.

First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.

The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.

These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.

New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.

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