Phillies make a quick stop at Colorado

Baseball Betting Lines

09/02/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Given how well the Phillies have played out west over the last week, they certainly won't mind staying there for an extra game. It doesn't hurt that its a matchup against the Rockies either.

Philadelphia will try to wrap up a seven-game swing with a sixth victory and also post its fifth win in a row over Colorado tonight in a make up game at Coors Field.

After a disappointing sweep at the hands of the Astros a week ago, the Phillies headed out west to San Diego and swept a three-game set from the first-place club. They then dropped the opener of a three-game series with the Dodgers, but rebounded to take the final two games of the set.

Philadelphia took Wednesday's rubber match 5-1 behind 6 1/3 solid innings from Roy Oswalt. The right-hander lost a no-hit bid with two outs in the sixth inning and allowed just a single hit in addition to six walks.

"I was a little wild and had no command of my fastball. When I got in trouble I went with the breaking ball. That's the advantage of having four pitches -- when one isn't working you can go to another one. I was able to put enough movement on the ball to keep them off-balance," Oswalt said.

Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino both hit solo homers and Rollins scored three times for the Phillies, who have won 11 of their last 13 on the road. Chase Utley had three doubles and drove in a pair of runs.

The victory allowed Philadelphia to maintain its three-game deficit for first place in the National League East behind Atlanta as well as a 1 1/2-game edge over San Francisco for the Wild Card spot.

The Phillies were unable to gain ground on the Giants due to their 2-1 victory over the Rockies last night. Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez gave up just two runs on four hits with 10 strikeouts over eight innings, but still failed in his fifth straight bid to become the NL's first 18-game winner with a fourth losing decision in a row.

Jimenez was charged with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning on a wild pitch that allowed the Giants' Darren Ford to race towards third. Catcher Miguel Olivo tried to gun him down, but the throw to third sailed high and Ford was able to come home.

Carlos Gonzalez's 30th homer of the season in the fourth inning was the lone offense for Colorado, which has lost two straight after winning seven of eight and is 5 1/2 games behind Philadelphia in the Wild Card race.

Gonzalez is hitting .515 (17-for-33) with five homers and 13 RBI over a nine- game hitting streak.

"As of now we have plenty of games against people we need to catch," Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said. "We kind of control our destiny, even though we are making it a little difficult for ourselves."

This will be the last time the Rockies face the Phillies this year and that is only because the second half of a slated doubleheader on May 12 was rained out. Colorado won the first game on that day at home, but was swept in Philadelphia over four games from July 23-26.

Joe Blanton finished off that sweep with six innings of two-run ball in his first ever appearance versus the Rockies, giving his club 15 wins in the last 18 regular-season meetings with Colorado. The Phils also bested the Rox in four game's in last year's NLDS.

Blanton will try to duplicate that success tonight and improve on his 6-6 season mark and 5.15 earned run average. The right-hander has won his last three decisions though and is 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA over his last three starts. After a no-decision versus the Astros on Aug. 23 despite seven innings of one- run ball, Blanton bested the Padres on Saturday, yielding a run on six hits over six frames of work.

The 29-year-old is just 2-4 with a 6.06 ERA in 10 road starts this season.

The Rockies will counter with Jhoulys Chacin, who has settled down to win two straight starts after a rough return to the rotation two weeks ago.

The right-hander was tagged for five runs over five innings of a loss to the Dodgers on Aug. 17, his first appearance with the Rockies since July 23, but has posted wins over the Diamondbacks and Dodgers since, yielding just a single run and seven hits over 14 2/3 innings.

The 22-year-old righty is 7-9 with a 3.79 ERA in 22 games (15 starts) this season and will make his first career start versus the Phillies tonight. He has, however, thrown 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief against them over two appearances.

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Super Bowl 2009 Betting

Super Bowl 2009 Betting propositions

Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.

Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.

Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.

If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.

Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.

By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.

In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.

So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.

While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.

There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.

In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:

SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.

XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.

XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.

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