Wellemeyer pitches Cardinals over Giants
Baseball Betting Lines
07/02/2009 -
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Todd Wellemeyer threw 7 1/3 innings to help
the St. Louis Cardinals take a 5-2 win over the San Francisco Giants and split
a four-game series.
Wellemeyer (7-7) scattered seven hits and two runs with a walk and six
strikeouts for the Cardinals, who won the final two games of the series. Ryan
Ludwick drove in two runs while Brendan Ryan scored twice.
Barry Zito (4-8) was tagged for all five runs on five hits with three walks
and seven strikeouts in just 4 1/3 innings for the Giants, who have lost two
straight on the heels of a three-game winning streak. Aaron Rowand hit a two-
run homer to account for the offense.
The Cardinals got all the runs they needed in the opening inning. The first
three batters reached safely to load the bases and Ludwick beat out an infield
single to chase home Ryan. Yadier Molina then worked a walk to force home Skip
Schumaker and Chris Duncan hit into a fielder's choice that scored Albert
Pujols for a 3-0 lead.
San Francisco had baserunners in each of the first five innings, but only got
a man to second twice, in the first and third innings.
St. Louis padded its lead in the fifth. With men on second and third,
Schumaker grounded out to bring home Colby Rasmus. Later in the frame, an RBI
single from Ludwick brought home Ryan for a 5-0 advantage.
The Giants got on the board in the eighth to spoil Wellemeyer's shutout bid.
Pinch-hitter Nate Schierholtz led off with a single and Rowand followed with a
shot that just cleared the wall in left for his ninth home run to make it a
5-2 game.
Ryan Franklin, though, shut down San Francisco in order in the ninth to grab
his 19th save of the season.
Game Notes
St. Louis hits the road and starts a three-game set in Cincinnati on
Friday...San Francisco returns home to start a three-game series in Houston on
Friday...The Giants took four of the seven games against St. Louis this season
and have won the series the past three seasons...Before the game, St. Louis
agreed to terms with 16-year-old outfielder Wagner Mateo. He is considered to
be the top amateur free agent on the market from Latin America this year.
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to Tri
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Trout, who played his high school ball
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Buehrle (8-2) allowed a run on
NFL Football Betting Online
The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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