Cardinals do talking with sweep, jump Reds for divison lead

Baseball Betting Lines

08/11/2010 - Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colby Rasmus belted a grand slam in support of Adam Wainwright's seven scoreless innings as St. Louis downed Cincinnati, 6-1, to complete a three-game sweep and move into sole possession of first place in the National League Central.

Wainwright (17-6) put together another dominant performance, as he allowed just two hits, did not walk a batter and struck out four for the Cardinals, who lead the season series, 10-5.

Skip Schumaker had three hits and drove in a run and Jon Jay added a pair of hits and a run scored for St. Louis, which has won five of its last six contests to move one game ahead of Cincinnati.

Bronson Arroyo (12-7) lasted five innings, giving up four runs on six hits while walking three and striking out two for the Reds, who were last swept in a three-game series June 18-20 in Seattle.

Wainwright retired the side in order in four different frames and did not allow a runner past second base for a second straight start to match Ubaldo Jimenez for the major league lead in wins. His outing was limited to seven frames by a rain delay that lasted for 46 minutes heading into to the top of the eighth.

The Cardinals loaded the bases with two outs after a walk to Wainwright in the second inning, but couldn't score after Brendan Ryan struck out.

The visitors filled the bases again in the fifth on a Jay double and walks to Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday before Rasmus belted a 3-2 offering from Arroyo over the wall in straightaway centerfield for the Cardinals' second decisive grand slam of the series.

St. Louis then put the game out of reach with a pair of runs in the seventh off Jordan Smith on back-to-back run-scoring singles by Yadier Molina and Schumaker.

Cincinnati finally got on the board in the eighth when Brandon Phillips and Paul Janish singled with two outs to chase Mitchell Boggs from the hill. He was replaced by Trever Miller, who have up a base hit to Joey Votto that scored Phillips and brought Mike MacDougal out of the Cardinals bullpen. Scott Rolen then fouled out to the catcher Molina to end the threat.

Game Notes

The Reds were swept in a four-game set in Philadelphia July 8-11...The Cardinals last swept the Reds in a series September 26-28, 2008...Wainwright evened his career record against Cincinnati at 3-3 with two of the wins coming this season...He is 19-3 against division opponents since the start of 2009... The St. Louis trio of Wainwright, Chris Carpenter and Jaime Garcia allowed a total of nine hits in the series and each won their start as the Redbirds improved to 48-24 in their starts...Pujols lost a 10-game hit streak, but he scored for a tenth consecutive game...Holliday went 1-for-2 and has hit safely in seven straight and 23 out of his last 25...The Cardinals placed veteran right-hand pitcher Jeff Suppan on the 15-day disabled list with a sore groin and purchased the contract of catcher Steven Hill from Double-A Springfield... Arroyo dropped to 7-10 in his career against the Cardinals, including 1-2 this season...UFC star Rich Franklin threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game.

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MySportsbook.com: NFL draft - The NFC South


In part two of MySportsbook.com’s draft preview, we’ll take a look at a division that was extremely disappointing last season: the NFC South.  Many “experts” predicted the Panthers to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, of course they could not even make the playoffs in an extremely weak NFC.  The Saints definitely made up for the disappointing seasons of their NFC South brethren by exploding out of no where en route to the NFC Championship game.  For the avid NFL gambler, it is imperative to pay attention to the NFL draft.  Although free agency gets a ton of publicity, the successful franchises build their teams around the draft.

1. New Orleans Saints
Who would have thought this time last year that the Saints would be the favorites to win the NFC South for the 2007 campaign?  New Orleans is loaded with firepower on the offensive side of the ball but with the exodus of Joe Horn they will most likely look to draft a WR on Day 1.  Despite having the NFL’s 3rd ranked pass defense last season, the Saints will most likely upgrade their CB’s with one of their first two picks. Other possibilities for the Saints will be TE and DT.  Because of where they will be selecting (27th), the Saints could go the “best available player” route which could net a LB.

Key additions: Eric Johnson TE, Troy Evans LB, David Patten WR
Key loses: Joe Horn WR,
Team needs: CB, WR, TE, LB, DT
Possible draftees: Aaron Ross CB Texas, Darrelle Revis CB Pitt, Ted Ginn Jr. WR OSU, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Chris Houston CB Arkansas, Greg Olsen TE Miami

2. Carolina Panthers
Carolina was one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL last season.  With the signing of David Carr, expect the very first quarterback controversy to come out of Carolina if Jake Delhomme doesn’t rebound quickly from an average 2007 season. With veteran safety Mike Minter getting up there in age, they will look to draft a safety on Day 1 but probably not in the first round.  LB is another need with the loss of Chris Draft to go along with Dan Morgan’s concussion problems.  If TE Greg Olsen is still on the board, he might be too good to pass up despite their needs on the defensive side of the ball.

Key additions: David Carr QB
Key loses: Chris Draft LB
Team needs: LB, TE, S, OT
Possible draftees: Greg Olsen TE Miami, Patrick Willis LB Ole Miss, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Levi Brown OT PSU

3. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were another NFC South team to have a disappointing 2007 season.  The Falcons have been plenty busy during the off season with plenty of players coming and going including a new head coach.  The Falcons were able to improve their draft position with the trade of coveted backup QB Matt Schaub.  High on the list of Day 1 needs will be a defensive end to replace Patrick Kerney and a hard hitting safety since Lawyer Milloy is nearing the end of his career.  With an additional 2nd round pick, the Falcons could attempt to trade up to acquire local product WR Calvin Johnson. 

Key additions: Joey Harrington QB, Toniu Fonoti OG, Joe Horn WR
Key loses: Justin Griffen RB, Patrick Kerney DE, Matt Lehr OG, Ashley Lelie WR, Matt Schaub QB
Team needs: DE, S, OT, WR, DT
Possible draftees: LaRon Landry S LSU, Amobi Okoye DT Louisville, Levi Brown OT PSU, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas, Alan Branch DT Michigan

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Age really caught up to the Bucs last season.  The Bucs still have plenty of household names on defense in Ronde Barber, Simeon Rice and Derrick Brooks but the one thing those three have in common is unfortunately age.  It is imperative for the Bucs to get much younger, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Despite having bigger needs on the defensive side of the ball, WR Calvin Johnson is the most likely pick if he is still available when the Bucs pick at the four spot.  This would suit Bucs’ faithful just fine as Johnson is widely considered the top talent in the draft and it is a position of need for the Bucs.

Key additions: Jeff Garcia QB, Kevin Carter DE, Torrie Cox CB, Cato June LB
Key loses: Dewayne White DE, Sean Mahan OG
Team needs: WR, LB, DE, CB (Youth on defense!)
Possible draftees: Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech, Gains Adams DE Clemson, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas

It is never too early to start betting on the NFL. Log on to MySportsbook.com to checkout all of the NFL futures for the upcoming season.  On the clock: the NFC North

Odds to win the NFC South:
New Orleans Saints 8-5
Carolina Panthers 2-1
Atlanta Falcons 12-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-2    

Odds to win the NFC:
New Orleans Saints 13-2
Carolina Panthers 7-1
Atlanta Falcons 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25-1

Odds to win the Super Bowl:
New Orleans Saints 18-1
Carolina Panthers 20-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 75-1

To visit this sportsbook get to MySportsbook.com for all your online sportsbook needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.