Astros vie to extend series win streak over Cubs

Baseball Betting Lines

07/28/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros have yet to lose a series to the Chicago Cubs this year. Starting pitcher Bud Norris getting his first victory in well over two months would keep that stretch going.

Norris and the Astros aim for a fourth series win over the Cubs in as many tries this year in Wednesday night's finale of a three-game series at Minute Maid Park.

The Astros have won seven of 11 versus the Cubs in 2010 and evened this series on Tuesday behind Brett Myers' complete game and a big seventh inning by the Houston offense that led to a 6-1 triumph.

Myers scattered one run and matched a career high with 12 strikeouts while going the distance for the first time since Sept. 14, 2008 with Philadelphia, while Lance Berkman capped a six-run seventh inning with a grand slam.

"Mr. Myers does it again, just an absolute outstanding performance," Houston manager Brad Mills said after his team improved to 2-3 on a nine-game homestand. "He just continues to battle. It's fun to watch."

Myers allowed just Tyler Colvin's ninth-inning homer to fall short of the shutout. The Cubs, who have lost two of three, failed to back Ted Lilly's scoreless 5 2/3 innings in the start. Reliever Andrew Cashner was charged with all six Houston runs over 1 1/3 innings of work.

Both Lilly and Myers have been involved in trade rumors leading up to Saturday's deadline, but Chicago manager Lou Piniella didn't think that affected his left-hander last night.

"I can tell you it wouldn't bother him," Piniella said. "I rode in with him from the hotel [Wednesday]. We talked a little bit about his situation. He wants to stay here, but he understands."

The Astros will hope Norris can notch his first win since May 13, and the right-hander is 0-3 with a 6.13 earned run average in seven starts since that outing. He has yielded 13 earned runs over his last three starts, losing consecutive games before a no-decision versus the Reds on Friday.

The right-hander yielded four runs on four hits and three walks over six innings in that outing and is 2-7 with a 6.08 ERA on the season.

Norris has yet to win at home this year, having gone 0-4 with a 7.13 ERA in seven starts, and is making his first career start versus the Cubs this evening. The 25-year-old did face them in relief a season ago, his first appearance in the majors, and allowed a run over three frames of work.

After a slow start, Cubs starter Randy Wells has started to put things together and brings a 14-inning scoreless streak into this outing.

The 27-year-old has hurled consecutive outings of seven innings, getting a no- decision versus the Phillies on July 17 before besting St. Louis on Friday. Wells held the Cardinals to five hits and three walks in a 5-0 triumph, while also striking out seven.

Wells is 5-7 with a 4.07 ERA on the season, but 2-1 with a 1.30 ERA over his last five starts. He is 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA in four career starts versus the Astros, but did lose in Houston on June 6 after giving up six runs on nine hits over 5 1/3 innings. The righty yielded a run-scoring single to Berkman and a two-run homer to Carlos Lee in the first inning to fall behind early.

Wells will look to slow down Astros third baseman Chris Johnson, as the rookie is hitting .415 (17-for-41) with three homers and nine RBI on an 11-game hitting streak.

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.

NFL ODDSTop Football Betting Free Agents to Change Teams

NFL Betting

It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.

We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.

Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.

Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.

Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.

NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.

The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

NFL Wagering

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