Dodgers hope for more pitching prowess in second test with Cubs

Baseball Betting Lines

07/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley has to be motivated by what staff mate Clayton Kershaw did in last night's series- opening win versus the Chicago Cubs. He'll try to give his team another dominating mound performance Friday in the second portion of this set from Chavez Ravine.

Kershaw held the Cubs to a pair of runs on seven hits and struck out 12 batters through eight innings of a 3-2 victory, LA's seventh in its last 10 games. Closer Jonathan Broxton took over in the ninth and hurled a scoreless inning for his 19th save to preserve Kershaw's ninth win (9-4).

"Clayton had a great start tonight, he's very special," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said after taking the first test of a four-game series. "The most important thing he brings to the table is he can throw more than one pitch for a strike."

Now the pitching table is set for Billingsley, who is 0-2 with a 4.83 earned run average in his last five starts. The right-hander hasn't recorded a decision in consecutive outings and last won on May 26 against tonight's opponent at Wrigley Field. He allowed three runs -- two earned -- and 10 hits over 5 1/3 innings in his team's 8-5 victory that day.

Billingsley pitched well enough for a win his last time out in a 3-1 win at Arizona on Sunday, as he put on his own fireworks show with six innings of one-run ball and eight strikeouts. He remained at 6-4 in 15 starts this season to go along with a 4.06 ERA, and will try to even his home mark tonight. In seven starts at Dodger Stadium, Billingsley is 2-3 with a 5.48 ERA.

The former first-round pick is 2-3 in seven career games (five starts) against the Cubs.

The Dodgers will try to give tonight's starting pitcher some support and were able to hold on yesterday with just three runs. One day after having his 10- game hitting streak come to an end, Rafael Furcal went 3-for-3 with a clutch two-run homer and a pair of runs scored, while James Loney had two hits and drove in the other run for Los Angeles, which is tied with Colorado at three games behind San Diego for the NL West lead.

Furcal has 15 runs batted in and nine multi-hit games in his last 12 contests.

Chicago was coming off a three-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks until it settled in Hollywood. Even though Cubs starter Randy Wells gave up all three runs, he still pitched well in seven innings of work. He fanned seven batters and issued just one walk to fall to 4-7 on the season.

Wells' chance for a win ended on Furcal's two-run homer in the seventh inning.

"Furcal is a good hitter. I threw a cutter, it backed up," Wells said. "He put a pretty good swing on it. You don't want to get beat with your fourth-best pitch. That stings. I hate losing. That was pretty tough to swallow."

Alfonso Soriano hit his 15th home run of the season and Geovany Soto had the other RBI for the Cubs, losers in five of their last nine games. All-Star Marlon Byrd had three hits in defeat.

Taking the Dodger Stadium mound for Chicago tonight will be Ted Lilly, who is just 3-7 with a 3.76 ERA in 14 starts and 2-2 in his last four decisions. He previously pitched on Independence Day in a 14-3 loss versus Cincinnati and allowed nine runs on 11 hits, four of which were homers, in 6 2/3 innings.

Lilly did not record a decision versus the Dodgers on May 27, but he delivered seven shutout innings and yielded three hits with five K's in his team's 1-0 win. The left-hander is 3-1 with a 3.23 ERA in seven career matchups (six starts) with Los Angeles and 1-3 in six road outings in 2010.

Chicago won two of three meetings with the Dodgers back in late May, but Los Angeles is 9-6 in the last 15 encounters between the teams.

Gamblingh Baseball Betting News

<< Red Sox resume trek at Toronto's Rogers Centre
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After beginning a six-game road trip with three straight losses to one division rival, the Boston Red Sox head to Toronto in search of some momentum. The Rogers Centre is a good place to look for some. The Red Sox, h

<< Angels visit A's in clash of slumping division foes
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of struggling AL West inhabitants get together this evening in Oakland, as the Athletics and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim kick off a three-game series from the Coliseum. The Angels have dropped four straight and th

<< Twins have sights set on dethroning Tigers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins will try and gain some ground in the American League Central this weekend, as they close the first half of their season with a three-game set against the division-leading Detroit Tigers at Comeric

<< Yanks to take on Mariners as Lee rumors swirl
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - As the old adage goes, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." In this case for the New York Yankees, it has been reported they are interested in acquiring the services of Seattle Mariners left-hander Cliff Lee, who is schedule

<< De La Rosa set to return for Rockies' opener with Padres
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jorge De La Rosa played an instrumental role in the Colorado Rockies' surprising march to the playoffs last season. Tonight the left-hander will try to move his team closer to the San Diego Padres in the National League West

Phils rest hopes on Blanton in second test vs. Reds >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Many assume that the Phillies will be in the hunt for pitching prior to the non-waiver trade deadline at the end of this month. That need will be lessened a bit if Joe Blanton can get on track. Blanton will try to

White Sox begin series with resurgent Royals >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - White Sox starter Mark Buehrle has lost just once in his last five starts. That setback came versus the Royals and the left-hander can get a measure of revenge tonight when Chicago opens a three-game series versus Kansas

Decision 2010: James leaves Cleveland behind >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LeBron James made the right decision the wrong way. I first realized James had officially lost touch with reality on Wednesday when the ESPN press release announcing "The Decision," the hour-long vehicle in which the NBA's

Norman withdraws from British Open Championship >>
St. Andrews, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Greg Norman has withdrawn from next week's British Open Championship at St. Andrews. Norman, a two-time winner of the Claret Jug, has been unable to get back into competitive form after shoulder su

AHL extends president's contract >>
Springfield, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American Hockey League president David Andrews has agreed to terms on a contract extension that will keep him in his position through June, 2015. "All of us with an interest in the American Hockey L

FOOTBALL BETTING LINES

NFL Football Sports Betting

Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.

New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.

His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.

HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.

The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.

RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.

First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.

The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.

These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.

New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.

You can find these lines and all of the NFL betting lines , so be sure to login and get your wagers down before kickoff!

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines .
To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sports betting