Cardinals attempt to rebound against Braves

Baseball Betting Lines

07/20/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After receiving a double dose of bad news on Thursday, the St. Louis Cardinals will try to get back on their feet when the 2006 world champs continue a four-game series with the Atlanta Braves tonight at Turner Field.

The Cardinals learned yesterday that ace pitcher Chris Carpenter needs to undergo Tommy John surgery on his troublesome elbow and will miss the remainder of this season, as well as a significant portion of 2008. St. Louis then proceeded to get smoked by the Braves in the opener of this weekend set.

Atlanta scored 10 times over the first four innings en route to an easy 10-1 victory. Andruw Jones and Matt Diaz each homered and knocked in three runs, with Diaz ended 3-for-4 on the evening and Jones scoring three times.

Chipper Jones added a pair of hits and three runs scored to help the Braves rebound from an embarrassing three-game home sweep by Cincinnati. Jeff Francoeur contributed two hits and two RBI to the winning effort.

Julio Franco delivered a two-run single in the ageless veteran's first game back in a Braves uniform. The 48-year-old, who played for Atlanta from 2001-05, had been released by the Mets earlier this month.

Tim Hudson (10-5) cruised to his 10th victory of 2007 by limiting St. Louis to a run on five hits over seven innings of work.

Cardinals starter Mike Maroth (0-3) wasn't nearly as effective, as the lefty was battered for 10 runs and 11 hits in five innings.

St. Louis, which had won three of four prior to Thursday's rout, was without third baseman Scott Rolen (shoulder) for a second consecutive game. However, center fielder Jim Edmonds was activated from the disabled list and went 1- for-3 in his first action since June 15.

The Cardinals turn to ex-Braves farmhand Adam Wainwright tonight in hopes of getting back on track. The right-hander was Atlanta's first-round choice in the 2000 draft and pitched in the Braves system until being dealt to the Cardinals in December, 2003 as part of the trade that landed J.D. Drew in Atlanta.

Wainwright, a native of Brunswick, Georgia, will be making his first career start versus the Braves. He did throw four scoreless innings over three relief appearances against Atlanta as a rookie last season.

The 25-year-old has also been pitching very well as of late. Wainwright fired seven shutout innings to defeat the Phillies last Sunday and is 3-1 with a 3.24 earned run average over his four most recent starts.

Atlanta counters with a Georgia product of its own in Chuck James, who sports an identical 8-7 season record as Wainwright and is also in the midst of a good recent stretch.

James has yielded just two runs in 17 2/3 innings over his last three starts. The left-hander recorded back-to-back road wins over the Marlins and Dodgers to close out his first half, then came through with six shutout innings against Pittsburgh last Saturday.

The 25-year-old allowed just two hits and three walks in that game but did not factor in the decision of Atlanta's 5-4 win.

James' lone career appearance against the Cardinals came on July 5, 2006 at Turner Field. He wound up with the victory after giving up four runs over six innings of a 14-4 Atlanta triumph.

Thursday's contest was the first 2007 meeting between these teams. Atlanta won four of six matchups with St. Louis last season and is 5-1 in its last six games against the Cardinals at Turner Field.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.


MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.