Phillies try to get on track against hosting Cardinals

Baseball Betting Lines

07/21/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - This current road trip for the Philadelphia Phillies has been a complete disaster and they'll try to regroup tonight in the third installment of a four-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals from Busch Stadium.

The Phillies have dropped three in a row and are 1-5 on an eight-game trek through Chicago and St. Louis. After losing three of four meetings with the Cubs at Wrigley Field, the Phillies have dropped the first two contests of this set in the Gateway City.

In Tuesday's 7-1 loss, Phillies starter Jamie Moyer pitched only one inning before being removed due to a left elbow strain. Moyer is expected to land on the disabled list and allowed two hits in the first before giving way to youngster Drew Carpenter, who absorbed the loss for yielding three runs and five hits in three innings. Carpenter was brought up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley after the club optioned starter Kyle Kendrick to the Iron Pigs yesterday afternoon.

Danys Baez also gave up three runs in relief, while Shane Victorino drove in the lone run for the Phillies, who are seven games behind Atlanta for the top spot on the NL East standings.

"We're positive, but it's hard to keep a lot of spirit," Phils manager Charlie Manuel said on the team's site. "It seems like we're always behind in the game, and we always have to try to come back. Every time we get somebody on base, I know that we're trying too hard to knock them in."

Placido Polanco and Jayson Werth both had two hits in defeat.

Phillies starter Joe Blanton has won his last two decisions but hasn't figured into the outcome in any of his last four starts. Blanton will take the mound tonight and hopes to build off a solid performance his last time out in a 4-3 road loss against the Chicago Cubs last Thursday.

Blanton lasted seven innings at Wrigley Field and allowed three runs on five hits and three walks while striking out eight batters. He remained at 3-5 in 14 starts and slightly lowered his ERA from 6.41 to 6.21.

The bulky right-hander, who is just 1-3 in seven road starts, lost to the Cardinals in his 2010 debut on May 3 in a 6-3 setback. Blanton gave up four runs and 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings, falling to 3-1 in four career starts against the Cardinals.

St. Louis has ripped off seven straight wins and hasn't won eight in a row since late in the 2004 campaign, when it was swept by the Boston Red Sox in the World Series.

The Cardinals, who lead the NL Central by a half-game ahead of Cincinnati, improved to 6-0 on their eight-game homestand versus the Dodgers and Phillies. They got another strong performance from ace Chris Carpenter last night, as he delivered eight innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts.

"I had good command of my sinkerball near the bottom of the strike zone," said Carpenter. "I also threw some good curveballs and kept them off-balanced."

Matt Holliday connected on a three-run homer, while Randy Winn added a two-run shot in the victory. Winn also went deep in Monday's win in which the Cardinals belted four homers en route to an 8-4 victory. Since June 18th Holliday owns 11 homers and 31 RBI.

The Cardinals hope that Jaime Garcia can keep his promising season intact when he gets the call tonight. Garcia is 5-2 in his past seven decisions, but hasn't factored in the outcome over his previous two trips to the bump.

Garcia tossed just 3 1/3 innings in an 8-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers last Thursday and yielded two runs on eight hits with four strikeouts. He is 8-4 in 18 starts with a 2.27 ERA and 3-1 in eight outings at Busch Stadium.

The left-hander beat the Phillies back on May 3 at Citizens Bank Park with six innings of one-run ball and six K's in a 6-3 triumph. Garcia is 1-1 in three games (1 start) against Philadelphia.

The Phillies had a four-game winning streak in the Gateway City come to an end Monday night.

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NFL ODDSTop Football Betting Free Agents to Change Teams

NFL Betting

It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.

We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.

Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.

Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.

Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.

NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.

The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

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