Giants wrap up series vs. D'Backs

Baseball Betting Lines

08/29/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Giants rookie Buster Posey is a big reason for the club's success, but a forearm strain has been bothering the young catcher lately. He is expected to be back in today's lineup versus the Arizona Diamondbacks in the finale of a three-game series at AT&T Park.

Posey was handed the starting job this season when veteran Bengie Molina was dealt to the Texas Rangers, and he's batting .329 with 10 homers and 49 RBI in 78 games. The Giants could have used Posey's power in Saturday's 11-3 loss in which another starting pitcher was hammered. A day after Tim Lincecum gave up four runs over six innings in a series-opening loss, Barry Zito was touched for nine runs -- seven earned -- on six hits and five walks in 3 2/3 innings.

"I'm just not in a good rhythm. The pitches just aren't crisp right now," said Zito, who was in trouble after giving up six runs in the first inning. "It requires working hard between starts."

Pablo Sandoval homered and both Pat Burrell and Aubrey Huff were credited with an RBI for San Francisco, which has dropped three in a row and fell 1 1/2 games behind Philadelphia for the wild card lead. The Phillies defeated San Diego Saturday afternoon, keeping the Giants six games in back of the Padres for the top spot in the NL West.

The last time Giants starter Matt Cain faced Arizona he tossed eight shutout innings for the win back on July 22 at Chase Field. He'll take on the D'Backs again this afternoon and is 6-4 with a respectable 3.22 earned run average in 16 career starts in this series.

Cain was 0-2 in three starts before beating Cincinnati the last time out on Monday, as he held the Reds to two runs and five hits and struck out seven batters in eight innings of work.

The bulky right-hander has won four of his previous six decisions and evened his 2010 mark to 10-10 in 26 starts. Cain is 7-3 with a 2.59 ERA in 13 home starts this season.

Arizona will try for its fourth straight win and a three-game sweep of the Giants today, and has outscored its NL West rivals by a 17-5 margin so far.

Daniel Hudson benefited from a six-run first innings and threw seven innings of two-run ball for the win last night, while relievers Sam Demel and Jordan Norberto each pitched a scoreless inning of relief.

"I was struggling early on. We had some long innings, it was kind of tough to stay warm, just kind of battled through it for a little while then the tempo of game started picking up a bit out there," Hudson said on the team's site. "I really got into a rhythm there at the end."

Adam LaRoche and Mark Reynolds both homered and finished with three RBI and two runs scored for the last-place Diamondbacks, who got a three-run double from Miguel Montero during the first-inning explosion.

Rodrigo Lopez hasn't won since July 8 versus Florida and is only 0-5 with a 6.90 earned run average in his last eight starts. Arizona is 1-7 in that span and will send Lopez to the mound Sunday for his 27th start.

Lopez last pitched in Tuesday's 5-0 loss at San Diego, as he surrendered five runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings of work. The effort dropped him to 5-12 this season to go along with a 5.09 ERA.

The righty is 0-1 in two starts against San Francisco this season and 0-2 in four career starts in this series. Lopez hasn't pitched well on the road this season, going 2-6 in 12 starts away from home.

The Giants are 7-4 against Arizona this season.

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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.