Carpenter masters Dodgers again

Baseball Betting Lines

07/15/2010 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Carpenter pitched eight strong innings and remained unbeaten against the Dodgers, and the St. Louis Cardinals started the post All-Star break with a 7-1 win in the opener of a four-game series.

Carpenter (10-3), who had lost his previous two starts, allowing a total of 18 hits and 11 earned runs over nine innings, was marvelous Thursday night. The right-hander permitted four hits, including a homer by Andre Ethier in the fourth inning, and moved to 6-0 in eight lifetime starts against the Dodgers. Carpenter, who had six strikeouts without walking a batter, upped his mark to 19-4 lifetime against NL West clubs.

Albert Pujols had three hits and scored once, while Allen Craig knocked in two runs for the Cardinals, who lost four of their last six games just prior to the break. They're within a half-game of Cincinnati for first place in the NL Central.

Ethier had two hits for Los Angeles, which had won three of four against the Cubs just prior to the unofficial midseason point.

Manny Ramirez, who had been out since June 29 due to a strained right hamstring, was activated off the disabled list and went 0-for-3.

Clayton Kershaw (9-5) was charged with eight hits and five runs -- four earned -- over 4 1/3 innings to have a two-start winning streak snapped.

St. Louis loaded the bases with nobody out in the opening inning before Matt Holliday and Craig each knocked in runs via fielder's choice ground balls.

Ethier homered to right-center with one out in the fourth, but the Cardinals tacked on two runs in the bottom of the inning. Yadier Molina singled to left and went to second on Ramirez's error. Aaron Miles followed with an RBI single to left. Miles went to second on the throw home and scored on Felipe Lopez's two-out double to left.

Pujols doubled to start the fifth and scored on Craig's sacrifice fly to center.

Jon Jay extended his hitting streak to 12 games with an RBI double in the seventh inning, and he scored on Molina's base hit to center.

Game Notes

St. Louis has an 18-4 home mark in the last 22 regular season games against the Dodgers...The Cardinals handed general manager John Mozeliak a three-year contract extension on Thursday, keeping him in St. Louis through the 2013 campaign...St. Louis placed outfielder Nick Stavinoha on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right shoulder. The team also recalled Craig from Triple- A Memphis. The Cardinals also announced right-handed pitcher Adam Ottavino, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list on July 4, will undergo a procedure to repair a tear in his throwing shoulder...Ramirez went 0-for-9 with five strikeouts during a three-game rehab stint with Single-A Inland Empire from Sunday-Tuesday. The Dodgers opened a roster spot for Ramirez by placing outfielder Reed Johnson on the 15-day DL with a lower back injury.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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