08/27/2008 - Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Redding pitched six solid innings and Ryan Zimmerman hit his first home run since May 17, as the Washington Nationals held on for a 5-4 win over the reeling Los Angeles Dodgers, in the second installment of a three-game series from Nationals Park.
Redding (9-8) allowed eight hits, including three solo home runs, while issuing one walk and zero strikeouts to get the win, while Lastings Milledge, Ronnie Belliard and Jesus Flores had an RBI each for the Nationals, who won back-to-back games for the first time since taking both games of a doubleheader August 7 against Colorado.
Greg Maddux (6-11) dropped his second consecutive start since joining the Dodgers last week in a trade with the San Diego. The veteran right-hander surrendered four runs -- two earned -- on eight hits and one walk while failing to record a strikeout in 5 1/3 frames. Maddux was rocked for seven runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings of an 8-1 setback to Philadelphia last week.
Casey Blake, James Loney and Andre Ethier each hit a solo home run while Ethier also doubled twice in a 3-for-5 effort. Loney also doubled and finished 3-for-5 while Blake had a pair of RBI with as many hits.
The Dodgers have dropped a season-high six straight games and eight straight away from Chavez Ravine. They've also lost eight of their last nine overall and failed to take advantage of San Diego's three-game sweep of the NL-West leading D'Backs. The Dodgers remain three back.
The Nats came back to manufacture a run in the home half of the second and pulled ahead in the third. Milledge started the second frame with a single, stole second, moved to third and then raced home on consecutive groundouts.
Willie Harris and Cristian Guzman started the third with singles before Zimmerman grounded into a force out at second. Milledge plated a run with a fielder's choice and Belliard followed with an RBI single through the left side. Flores ended the rally with a double-play groundout.
The Nats added to their lead in the fourth as Emilio Bonifacio lined a single to center, moved to second on a sacrifice and scored when second baseman Jeff Kent misplayed a grounder from Harris and overthrew home in an attempt to get the runner.
LA made it a one-run affair in the fifth on an Ethier solo home run to right, his 17th of the season, but Zimmerman made it 5-3 with a towering solo shot to dead-center off Chan Ho Park in the seventh.
The Dodgers put runners on the corners to start the eighth when Manny Ramirez and Loney started things with back-to-back singles off Saul Rivera. Russell Martin went down swinging and Nomar Garciaparra popped weakly to second but Blake managed a broken-bat looper to left making it a 5-4 game. Rivera walked pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney to load the bases before exiting in favor of Joel Hanrahan, who retired Matt Kemp on a fly ball to left with just two pitches.
Hanrahan remained in the ninth and induced Ethier into a groundout, set down Kent on strikes and Ramirez stroked a single to center. Loney followed with a fly ball to left, ending the game and giving Hanrahan his sixth save of the season.
Loney started things in the second for LA with a leadoff homer to right, his 11th of the season. After a Martin single and a double-play ball from Garciaparra, Blake made it 2-0 with a home run over the wall in left, his 16th of the season.
Game Notes
Los Angeles swept a three-game series versus Washington at Dodger Stadium from July 25-27 and is 11-3 over its past 14 meetings with the Nationals...The Dodgers recalled third baseman Blake DeWitt from Triple-A Las Vegas Wednesday and designated utilityman Pablo Ozuna for assignment...The Dodgers fell to 0-5 on their current 10-game road trip...Friday's series finale will feature starters Clayton Kershaw (2-4) for Los Angeles and John Lannan (7-12) for Washington...Maddux's 353 career wins is still one shy of tying Roger Clemens for eighth on the career list. He has dropped three straight starts overall since winning three in a row.
<< Around FCS: PFL Must Replace Stars
Philadelphia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pioneer Football League has experienced
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<< Rangers' Hamilton scratched from lineup
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton
was a late scratch from the lineup in Wednesday's game against the Kansas City
Royals.
The left-handed slugger is out because of an abscessed tooth and was repla
<< Pena's homer provides lone run as Rays edge Blue Jays
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Pena homered and Matt Garza went
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Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Johnson's brilliant four-hitter marked the
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Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roy Oswalt continued his mastery of the Reds
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Oswalt (12-9) allowed one run on five hits with
Indians win 10th straight to sweep Tigers >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kelly Shoppach and Shin-Soo Choo each hit
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edged the Tigers, 9-7, in the finale of a three-game set.
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Rangers sweep Royals in KC >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jarrod Saltalamacchia went 3-for-4 with a
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a 3-2 v
Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.
Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.
Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.
Memphis vs. Ohio State
Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.
UCLA vs. Kansas
In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.
With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action. Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”. By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.
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