Cards hope for boost from Carpenter in battle with Bucs

Baseball Betting Lines

07/30/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis' bats have failed the Cardinals on more than one occasion over the club's current funk. With Chris Carpenter set to take the hill tonight versus Pittsburgh, those struggles might be forgiven tonight.

Carpenter will try to win his 11th straight decision over the Pirates when the Cardinals kick-start a three-game set versus their division rival tonight at Busch Stadium.

The 35-year-old Carpenter is 11-1 with a 2.29 earned run average in his career versus the Pirates, winning 10 decisions in a row since his lone loss to the club way back on June 29, 2004. He did not factor into the decision of his lone meeting with Pittsburgh this year, a May 7 outing in which Carpenter allowed two runs over seven innings.

The right-hander is 11-3 with a 3.09 ERA overall this year and had won two straight starts before a no-decision versus the Cubs on Sunday. Carpenter allowed three runs on nine hits over seven innings of his club's extra-inning victory.

St. Louis might need its former Cy Young Award winner to be on point tonight. Since winning eight in a row from July 11-21, the Cardinals have lost five of seven and have been shut out in three of those games.

That includes yesterday's result versus the Mets. New York knuckleballer R.A. Dickey held the Cards to just four hits over 8 1/3 innings en route to handing St. Louis a 4-0 setback.

"This is different. You're not used to facing knuckleballers," said Jon Jay, who had St. Louis' lone extra-base hit with a double. "We all check out film and talk about it and stuff, but [Dickey] was on today and did a really good job."

Ryan Ludwick, Skip Schumaker and Colby Rasmus all singled for the Cardinals, who are a half-game back of Cincinnati for first place in the National League Central. Starter Blake Hawksworth went six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits.

Looking to keep St. Louis' offense in check will be Jeff Karstens, who hasn't won since June 19. The right-hander is 0-4 with a 4.72 ERA in six starts since and has dropped each of his last three outings.

Karstens has gotten just six runs of support over his three-start slide, but allowed four runs -- two earned -- on seven hits over six innings of a 9-2 setback to the Padres on Saturday. He fell to 2-6 with a 4.72 ERA on the season.

The 27-year-old has a solid 2.25 ERA and 1-1 mark in two career starts against St. Louis, which he beat on May 8 with six shutout frames in a 2-0 triumph.

Pittsburgh failed to record a three-game sweep of Colorado on Thursday, falling 9-3 in the finale. Neil Walker had a two-run homer, but Bucs starter Paul Maholm gave up eight runs and 11 hits over 5 1/3 innings.

"I just didn't do a good job in the fourth [inning] when they got their four runs," said Maholm. "They didn't take big swings, they just put the ball in play, got runners over and I wasn't able to make the pitches."

Outfielder Andrew McCutchen is day-to-day for Pittsburgh after getting scratched from Thursday's lineup due to a sore right shoulder. McCutchen missed six games with the ailment last week and aggravated it on Wednesday.

The Cardinals took two of three in Pittsburgh when the clubs met for the first time back from May 7-9. St. Louis won 10 of the 15 meetings a season ago.

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Marlins could start season without No. 2 starter Johnson

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.

Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.

MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .

''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''

Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.

He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.

''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''

Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.

Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.

With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.

Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

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American Idol Betting Season 6 Strategies  

It's that time of year folks.  Betting on American Idol Season 9.  And we have plenty of American Idol Season 6 strategies appearing below.  With the Top 24 finalists revealed, online gambling sites will be offering betting odds on each of them, including MySportsbook.com.

No other “event” has been growing as fast as wagering on American Idol. It has turned into a huge betting event with reasonably high limits and all sorts of profit-making potential for sharp bettors. Last year, MySportsbook.com experienced unprecedented traffic as a result of the American Idol betting craze.

Every week there will be odds to win American Idol, various elimination props and contestant versus contestant match-ups at the MySportsbook.com website.

Whether a fan of America’s top-rated show or watching only because of a wife or girlfriend, here are some of basic strategies to use when betting American Idol.

Odds to Win

There are a few things to consider when looking for the right win bet. First off, remember that this bet is for the long haul. Many people make the mistake of picking the performer who sang the best the previous week. This strategy leads to an underlay situation – betting a price, which is less than what it should be.

All Idol contestants struggle at some point in the competition, so you should always look for value. In last year’s competition alone, two performers who had some of the best performances early in the series were subsequently bet down to low prices - Lisa Tucker and Ace Young. After just a few weeks, Tucker had already been eliminated, while Young quickly became a huge long shot to win America’s largest talent search.

A better strategy is to look for performers who don’t necessarily get the praise from the judges, but show flashes of the talent necessary to go the distance.

Another important thing to remember when betting any contestant to win is the demographic breakdown of the voters, the viewing public and potential future CD purchasers. Unlike sporting events, American Idol is not decided on the field of play – it’s decided by the American public under the guiding influence of the shows producers.

Understand that the great state of Alabama has a mighty edge when it comes to American Idol. 

Therefore, to be successful betting on American Idol, put any personal opinions or prejudices aside and think like the majority of the voting public. Remember that the typical voter is young, female and quite often, Southern.

If a contestant cannot appeal to this demographic, no matter how much talent he or she possesses, they’ll struggle for votes. Looks, demeanor and charisma are extremely important. And it’s no coincidence that every Idol winner so far has hailed from a Southern state.

Elimination Props

Every week MySportsbook.com anticipates offering a prop on who’ll be eliminated from the show each Wednesday night. A suggestion to handicap this is to gauge an overall feel for who’s the least popular contestant left in the competition. Generally the least popular performers have recently appeared in the bottom three and will have been the target of repeated criticism from the judges.

Last year, resources included dialidol.com and votefortheworst.com. Dialidol.com measures the volume of each contestant’s voting line. While by no means a perfect science, it does give a good indication of who is generating votes and who isn’t. Meanwhile, votefortheworst.com is a site that attempts to build support for the worst competitor to keep them in the competition for ‘entertainment’ value. The site has a proven track record of keeping performers around who most feel should have been voted off a long time ago.

Contestant vs. Contestant Match-ups

The best strategy for doing well on match-ups is to assess how close either of the contestants is to being eliminated. If neither is expected to be voted off of the show in the coming weeks, the value is almost always on the underdog. If both are expecting an imminent exit in the near future, the favorite in the match-up might offer value.

Watch for American Idol betting odds on each of the contestants shortly and good luck with these American Idol betting strategies.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.