Cardinals try to even up Giants in series finale
Baseball Betting Lines
07/02/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barry Zito tries to slow down Albert Pujols this evening when the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals conclude a four-game set at Busch Stadium.
St. Louis won in dramatic fashion on Wednesday, as Colby Rasmus belted a home run in the 10th inning to lift the Cardinals to a 2-1 victory. San Francisco's Pablo Sandoval had dropped a pop fly foul ball previously in the at-bat before Rasmus won the game with his eighth home run of the season.
"There was no excuse," Sandoval said. "I have to catch that ball, 100 percent."
Pujols, who was in the on-deck circle at the time of Rasmus' game-winning blast, had two hits and was on base four times. He leads the majors with 30 homers and 77 RBI and is hitting an incredible .632 (12-for-19) in six games against the Giants this season.
The home run made a loser of Bob Howry (0-4) and a winner of Ryan Franklin (2-0), who pitched one flawless frame for St. Louis.
"We needed a win," manager Tony La Russa said. "When you haven't been winning, boy, it's hard to win games. And then when you're winning, it's hard to lose. It was really a struggle. Probably for one game that could be some of the worst at-bats that we've had. Guys are pressing so much. We just have to find a way to relax."
Rasmus' walk-off homer was the first by a Cardinals rookie since Andy Van Slyke ended a game on August 18, 1983 against Houston.
Aaron Rowand and Randy Winn each had two hits for San Francisco and Bengie Molina drove in the only Giants run. Starter Matt Cain didn't factor in the decision, but allowed just one run on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts over seven frames.
Zito gets the call tonight for the Giants as he tries to improve upon a 4-7 season ledger with a 4.55 ERA. Zito has won three of his last four decisions, but did not get one on Saturday in Milwaukee despite a decent effort. He surrendered three runs and three hits in 5 2/3 innings of his team's 7-6 loss that night.
The 31-year-old left-hander lost to the Cards back on May 30 and is 0-3 with a 4.57 ERA lifetime against them.
St. Louis will counter with righty Todd Wellemeyer, who is 6-7 with a 5.68 ERA. He did not get a decision on Saturday against Minnesota, but did not make it out of the third inning after allowing three runs and four hits in just 2 1/3 frames.
Wellemeyer has faced the Giants three times and is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA.
The Giants won two of three games from the Cardinals at AT&T Park back in May and have taken six of the past eight meetings in this series.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds hope that Aaron Harang can have the same type of outing Johnny Cueto had last night, as they wrap up a three-game series Thursday afternoon from Great American Ball Park. Cueto tossed six shutout inning
<< Yankees hope A-Rod stays hot in finale vs. Seattle
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez is starting to heat up. Not coincidentally,
so are the New York Yankees.
The Bronx Bombers will be shooting for an eighth consecutive victory and a
series sweep of Rodriguez's original team, the Seattl
<< Braves hope to break out the brooms against Phils
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves are gradually working their way up the
NL East standings and will try to extend their winning streak to a season-high
four straight games tonight in the finale of a three-game series versus the
Philadelphia
<< Cubs, Brewers to begin key NL Central series
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If the Chicago Cubs are going to win a third straight
National League Central title, they are going to have to pick it up
offensively. This weekend would be a good time to get it going, as they return
home for the start of a
<< Astros go for series win at Petco
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros shoot for a series win this afternoon
over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park, where the two ballclubs will wrap up
a four-game set.
Houston has won five of its last seven games, including two of the fir
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox will be putting a season-high win streak on the line when the resurgent club heads to Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium tonight for the opener of a four-game series with the Royals. Chicago comes
Angels return home to host Orioles >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels return home from a six-day road
trip in first place in the American League West. The two-time defending
division champions will try to stay on top when they start up a four-game
series
Thrashers re-sign Thorburn >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Thrashers have re-signed forward
Chris Thorburn to a multi-year contract.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Thorburn appeared in all 82 games for the Thrashers last season and r
Some rebuild, USC reloads >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Within the world of college basketball,
there is a general consensus that the North Carolina Tar Heels have a huge
recruiting advantage that helps bring a never ending supply of blue-chippers
to Chapel Hill.
Creamer withdraws from title defense >>
Sylvania, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paula Creamer withdrew from her title defense
at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic before teeing off Thursday.
Creamer injured her left thumb last week and had received treatment on the
injury since wi
Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.