Brewers head to Arizona for final leg of trip

Baseball Betting Lines

05/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers should feel more confident about the next opponent on their 10-game road trip, as they try and continue their recent success against the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight at Chase Field.

Milwaukee, which is 3-4 so far on the swing, has won four straight meetings against the D'Backs, including a three-game sweep in Phoenix from September 11-13 of last season. The Brewers are 15-6 in their last 21 encounters with Arizona, going 7-3 in The Valley of the Sun over that time.

The Brewers were aiming for a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers Thursday at Chavez Ravine, but dropped a 7-3 decision after reliever LaTroy Hawkins surrendered a game-winning grand slam to Andre Ethier in the bottom of the ninth inning. Hawkins fell to 0-3 this season and starter Dave Bush gave up three runs -- one earned -- and four hits in five innings.

"[Hawkins] threw me a fastball right down the middle," Ethier said. "I just put an easy swing on it and it just kept going,"

Gregg Zaun had two hits and two RBI and Craig Counsell drove in a run for the Brewers, who hope that starter Yovani Gallardo can win his fourth straight start when he takes the hill Friday. Gallardo opened the season 0-2 with a 5.50 ERA in his first three starts, but is 3-0 with a 0.50 earned run average in his past three outings.

He got the streak going with five shutout innings in a win at Pittsburgh on April 21, then gave up just two unearned runs through six frames versus the Pirates five days later. Gallardo then won at San Diego on Saturday, when he held the Padres to a run over seven innings.

The right-hander will try to stay unbeaten against Arizona and is 2-0 in two starts versus the Diamondbacks, having thrown 12 shutout innings over that span.

Arizona is back at home after going 5-5 on a 10-game road trip. It just won three of four games at Houston and recorded a 6-3 victory last night behind Dan Haren's 10th career complete game. Haren went the distance for the first time this season and limited the Astros to three runs -- two earned -- and seven hits with nine strikeouts.

"The team needed it," Haren said on the Diamondbacks' site. "I needed it."

Tony Abreu finished with a career-best four hits and knocked in a run, while Kelly Johnson homered for the 10th time this season for the D'Backs, who will also welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers for three games on the homestand.

Edwin Jackson's first season in Arizona hasn't gone as planned, and he'll try to bounce back from two rough outings tonight. After throwing six shutout innings in a no-decision at San Diego on April 16, Jackson has gone 0-2 with a 13.82 earned run average in his last three outings.

Jackson has dropped two starts in a row and was reached for eight runs and 11 hits in four innings of a 10-5 loss at the Cubs on Sunday. The right-hander has given up 18 total runs and 22 hits in his last two trips to the hill.

Jackson has faced Milwaukee just once in his career, allowing one run in five innings of a 5-2 victory on June 2, 2004.

Myracetracks Baseball Betting News

<< Royals turn to winless Greinke in second test with Rangers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zack Greinke takes another crack at win No. 1 when the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers continue their four-game series this evening at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Greinke went 6-0 with a 0.40 earned run average in

<< Rays try to stay perfect vs. AL West in opener at Oakland
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Not many teams have been able to beat the Rays this year. That holds especially true for the teams out west. The Oakland Athletics, winners of two straight, will try to become the first American League West team to d

<< Baltimore's Millwood seeks first win against Twins
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baltimore's Kevin Millwood has pitched well this season, but doesn't have a win yet to show for it. That elusive first victory won't come easy tonight given the opponent. Millwood seeks the first victory of his caree

<< White Sox lefty Buehrle takes mound vs. Jays
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto's Shaun Marcum picked up his first victory since 2008 in his last trip to the hill. The way Chicago's Mark Buehrle has pitched as of late, it seems like that long since he last won. Buehrle will try to halt a f

<< Giants aim to slay another NL East foe in Mets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- Performing well against the National League East has helped the San Francisco Giants to the one of the top records in baseball at the moment. The current NL West leaders will attempt to maintain that level of success when th

Bruins shoot for sweep in Philly >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins will shoot for a sweep of their Eastern Conference semifinal series when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers for Game 4 tonight at Wachovia Center. The sixth-seeded Bruins are just once victory away from e

Angels, Mariners to square off in battle of reeling clubs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of slumping American League West rivals get together tonight in the Emerald City, where the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim collide in the opener of a three-game series at Safeco Field. The Marine

Dodgers to host Rockies in key divisional set >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier will bring his Triple Crown numbers and late-game heroics into Friday's opener of a three- game series versus the NL West-rival Colorado Rockies at Chavez Ravine. Ethier was at i

Aussie great Newcombe has skin cancer surgery >>
Sydney, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 John Newcombe underwent surgery to have a cancerous growth removed from the right side of his nose. "It's a cancerous growth so he (the doctor) had to cut...and finish

UConn's Calhoun receives five-year extension >>
Storrs, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Connecticut handed longtime men's head basketball coach Jim Calhoun a five-year contract extension running through the 2014 season on Friday. The deal is effective retroactively from July

Online Sportsbook Football Betting

The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

MySportsbook is considered one of the finest football sportsbooks according to several surveys performed by independent industry analysts considering such factors as payout accuracy and timeliness, overall quality of website, and bettor satisfaction.

MySportsbook is a large company with strong financial backing. Considered the best sportsbook for betting football online You will find their customer service is second to none and their web site is extremely user friendly and easy-to-use. All major professional sports games are available. Once you signup with MySportsbook, you may never use another online sportsbook again.

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