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Phillies aiming to get on track against first-place Cardinals

Baseball Betting Lines

07/19/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies have handled the St. Louis Cardinals pretty conveniently the past few years. That may change when the struggling Phils pay a visit to Busch Stadium Monday for the first of four consecutive matchups with the NL Central leaders.

Philadelphia, which opened the second half of the season by losing three of four games against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, won three of four matchups with the Cardinals back in early May and has taken 11 of the past 14 games between the two ballclubs.

The two-time defending National League champion Phillies are coming off a tough loss Sunday night in which staff ace Roy Halladay was battered for six runs -- five earned -- and seven hits, including a pair of two-run homers, in six innings of work. Halladay struck out three and did not walk a batter.

"They hit the home run for two runs, then we kind of let the game leave us early," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel told the team's site. "They had that four-run figure there, then we could never get to the starter."

Ryan Howard, Greg Dobbs and Ben Francisco all homered, while Placido Polanco ended with two hits and an RBI for the Phillies, who fell 5 1/2 games behind Atlanta for the top spot in the National League East. Howard owns four home runs and eight RBI in the last four games and will be returning to his hometown for a lengthy set. The slugging first baseman is batting .367 with 14 homers and 44 RBI in 34 career games against the Cards.

Hoping to get some production from Howard and company tonight will be Kyle Kendrick, who is a perfect 4-0 with a 1.67 ERA in four career starts against St. Louis. The righty beat the Cardinals earlier this season on May 5, as he fired seven shutout innings in a 4-0 triumph. Kendrick is 3-1 with a 3.33 earned run average over his last 10 games overall, eight of which have been starts. He has posted consecutive no-decisions and it started with 6 2/3 frames of one-run ball in a 4-3 home win over Cincinnati.

He then hurled a scoreless inning of relief in a 12-6 road loss against the Chicago Cubs last Thursday. Kendrick is 5-3 in 19 games (17 starts) to go along with a 4.44 ERA and is 3-1 as the visitor this season.

St. Louis will be a tough customer after it just took back the top spot in the National League Central standings with a four-game sweep of the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers over the weekend. In Sunday's 5-4 win in the series finale, Allen Craig and Matt Holliday both had RBI singles with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead the way.

"That was great," Holliday said. "Allen Craig came up with two huge hits."

Craig finished with two hits and three RBI and Randy Winn contributed a pair of hits and knocked in a run for the Cardinals, who have won five straight and sit a half-game ahead the surprising Cincinnati Reds in the division standings. Jeff Suppan started the game and tossed six innings of one-run ball in the no-decision. Closer Ryan Franklin picked up the win by throwing a scoreless ninth inning.

Blake Hawksworth gets the nod tonight for his sixth career start and is 3-5 with a 4.72 earned run average in 26 games (5 starts) this season. Hawksworth has won three of his last five decisions and defeated Houston the previous time out on July 11 in the Lone Star State.

The right-hander held the Astros to a pair of runs on seven hits over 5 1/3 frames. He hasn't fared too well at home this season as evidenced by his 1-3 mark and 4.50 ERA in 12 games (1 start) at Busch Stadium. Hawksworth is 0-1 in two relief appearances against Philadelphia this season and owns the same record with a 7.71 ERA in three career relief stints in this series.

Hawksworth will try to put an end to Philadelphia's four-game winning streak in the Gateway City.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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