Reds, Rockies get second half started in Cincinnati

Baseball Betting Lines

07/16/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two potential National League playoff teams square off tonight when the Cincinnati Reds host the Colorado Rockies in the opening contest of a three-game weekend series at Great American Ball Park.

The Reds enter the season's unofficial second half in first place in the NL Central, leading the defending division champion St. Louis Cardinals by a half-game.

Meanwhile, the Rockies are second in the NL West -- two games behind San Diego -- but lead the early-stage wild card race by a half-game over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Right-hander Bronson Arroyo gets the start for Cincinnati with a chance to reach double-digit wins for the fourth time in his fifth season with the Reds.

The Key West, Florida native, acquired from the Boston Red Sox for Wily Mo Pena prior to the 2006 season, was a 14-game winner for the Reds that year and won 15 apiece in both 2008 and 2009.

He got No. 9 of 2010 in his final start prior to the All-Star break, scattering seven hits and allowing one run in eight innings of a 3-1 defeat of the New York Mets on July 7.

He's won four of his last five decisions and has pitched at least seven innings in 10 of 18 starts.

Lifetime against Colorado, Arroyo is 1-2 in eight appearances with a 3.98 earned run average.

For the Rockies, towering righty Jason Hammel can extend an unbeaten streak that stretches back nearly two months.

The 6-foot-6, 215-pounder's last loss was May 21 at Kansas City, but since then he's gone 6-0 in nine starts while lowering his ERA from 7.52 after the Kansas City loss to 4.08 following a 4-2 win over San Diego in his last pre- break start on July 10.

A former draft pick of the then-Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Hammel was sent to Colorado early in 2009 after losing a competition for the fifth starting slot to Jeff Niemann.

He thrived with the Rockies, however, winning 10 games and posting a 4.33 ERA in 176 2/3 innings over 34 appearances, including 30 starts.

He's been used exclusively as a starter in 2010 and has logged 90 1/3 innings thus far, allowing 97 hits, 41 earned runs and 24 walks with 72 strikeouts.

He's made one career start against the Reds and got a no-decision after allowing three hits and two runs in 7 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts.

On Sunday in Denver, ex-Red Matt Belisle's two-run throwing error in the eighth put San Diego ahead for good and Everth Cabrera added a two-run homer in the ninth for insurance in a 9-7 Padres win to close a three-game series against the surging Rockies.

Carlos Gonzalez had a pair of RBI singles to score Jonathan Herrera, who extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a run-scoring triple while walking and scoring twice. Miguel Olivo went 3-for-4 with an RBI for Colorado, which finished up a 10-game homestand at 8-2.

In Philadelphia, Cole Hamels tossed 7 2/3 scoreless innings, while Jose Contreras, J.C. Romero and Brad Lidge finished off the shutout and the Phillies' four-game sweep of Cincinnati with another 1-0 decision.

Matt Maloney (0-2) came up on the losing end despite a quality start. The former Phillies farmhand yielded one run on four hits and a walk in six innings for the Reds, who lost the first three games in the set in extra innings.

Cincinnati did not score in the final 21 innings in the series.

The Rockies won all seven games versus the Reds last year and have taken nine straight and 14 of the last 15 meetings between the teams.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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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.

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