Bolstered Padres to begin home set with Marlins

Baseball Betting Lines

07/30/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A walk-off victory and the acquisition of a six-time All- Star made Thursday one exciting day for the San Diego Padres.

San Diego will hope Friday is just as good, as it is expected to have infielder Miguel Tejada available for tonight's opener of a three-game series against the Florida Marlins, a club that has lost five straight to the Padres.

Owners of a 3 1/2-game lead for first place in the National League West, San Diego began its Thursday by getting Tejada from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for cash considerations and minor league right-hander Wynn Pelzer. A former American League MVP, the 36-year-old is hitting .269 with seven homers and 39 RBI in 97 games this year and is expected to play both third base and shortstop for his new club.

"Hopefully, [Tejada] can come over here to this situation and contribute somewhere in our lineup," said Padres manager Bud Black.

It is unknown if Tejada will be in the starting lineup tonight.

The good feelings of the bold move made by the Padres front office did not disappear at game time. Looking to claim victory over the Dodgers in the rubber match of a three-game series, Oscar Salazar scored Scott Hairston with a pinch-hit single up the middle with one out to give San Diego a 3-2 victory and series win over Los Angeles.

Chase Headley and Yorvit Torrealba both knocked in a run for the Padres, who have won five of their last six games.

Wade LeBlanc will try to extend the momentum tonight after snapping his personal four-decision losing streak with a victory over Pittsburgh on Sunday. The Padres left-hander gave up three runs on eight hits over six innings, improving to 5-8 with a 3.35 earned run average on the season.

LeBlanc, 25, has made one career start versus the Marlins prior, earning a no- decision on Aug. 29 after yielding four runs in six innings of work.

He won't have to face Jorge Cantu after the Marlins dealt their third baseman to the Texas Rangers for a pair of pitching prospects. Cantu was hitting .262 on the season with 10 homers and 54 RBI.

He went 2-for-4 and twice in Thursday's 5-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants, then was traded following the contest.

Anibal Sanchez was spectacular versus San Francisco, notching his second career shutout, a one-hitter that also featured a walk and eight strikeouts. Sanchez, who engineered a no-hitter back in 2006, gave up a single in the fifth inning on the way to earning his eighth victory of the season.

"Everything was working for [Sanchez]," said Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez. "He had command of all his pitches, so we knew something good was going to happen today."

Mike Stanton and Ronny Paulino knocked in two runs apiece for the Marlins, who split this four-game series at AT&T Park and have won 11 of their last 17 games overall to get back to .500 at 51-51.

Florida's Chris Volstad will be seeking his first victory since June 13 tonight, having gone 0-2 with a 6.31 ERA in five starts since. The 23-year-old made his first start on Sunday since July 6 after a brief demotion to Triple-A and earned a no-decision versus the Braves, getting charged with three runs on five hits and three walks over six innings of work.

Volstad is 4-8 with a 4.76 ERA on the season and 1-2 with a 6.14 ERA in three career meetings with the Padres. The right-hander lost to them on June 25, allowing three runs on seven hits over six innings while striking out six in the 3-0 setback.

San Diego's five-game win streak over the Marlins includes a three-game sweep in Florida from June 25-27. The Fish did win all three meetings in San Diego a season ago.

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Online Sportsbook Football Betting

Colts give the ‘D’ its due

The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.

They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.

"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."

Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.

New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.

Not so sound on the ground

If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com

“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.

Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.

Brees says bring it on

Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.

Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.

Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.

"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."

SportsBooks ready for a shootout

Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.

“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”

New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.

The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.

“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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