Cubs sneak past Cards

Baseball Betting Lines

08/14/2010 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez each hit solo homers, as the Chicago Cubs snuck past the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2, in the second test of a three-game series at Busch Stadium.

Koyie Hill added an RBI double for the Cubs, who are a woeful 3-14 since July 27.

Carlos Zambrano (4-6) went 5 2/3 frames in the start, allowing two runs on seven hits to pick up his first win since June 20. The right-hander also struck out three and walked two to improve to 11-6 over 28 career games (25 starts) versus St. Louis. Zambrano is also a perfect 5-0 in six overall trips to the Busch Stadium mound.

Matt Holliday and Randy Winn each knocked in a run for the Cardinals, who saw a four-game win streak come to an end.

St. Louis starter Chris Carpenter (13-4) went six innings, giving up three runs on six hits to suffer his first loss since July 8.

The Cardinals got on the board in the first. With one out, Jon Jay singled and Albert Pujols doubled to put men on second and third. Holliday's sacrifice fly made it 1-0.

Chicago responded with two runs in the second to take the lead. Ramirez led off the inning with a homer to left-center field. Marlon Byrd doubled and raced home on Hill's two-out double to left for a 2-1 margin.

Lee's blast to right in the third made it a 3-1 game.

After stranding the bases loaded in the fifth, St. Louis scored a run in the sixth to cut the gap to 3-2. Skip Schumaker hit a two-out single, moved to second on a wild pitch, and raced home on pinch-hitter Winn's base hit to right. Marcus Mateo took over for Zambrano and got Brendan Ryan to fly out.

Sean Marshall, who tossed a perfect seventh, gave up a leadoff single to Holliday in the eighth. After getting Colby Rasmus to pop out, Marshall was replaced by Carlos Marmol, who retired the first two batters he faced.

Marmol ran into a bit of trouble in the ninth. Aaron Miles reached first on an infield single and moved to second on third baseman Ramirez's throwing error. Ryan popped out, Felipe Lopez fouled out, and Allen Craig struck out to give Marmol his 20th save of the season.

Game Notes

St. Louis and Chicago have split eight games this season. The Cardinals, though, are 8-3 against the Cubs at Busch Stadium since the start of the 2009 campaign...Ramirez had missed the last three games with a sore left rib cage...Cardinals manager Tony La Russa sat out the game to complete a two-game suspension for his involvement in Tuesday's scuffle with the Reds...Pujols had scored a run in 11 consecutive contests...Lee has homered in back-to-back games.

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Super Bowl 2009 Betting

Super Bowl 2009 Betting propositions

Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.

Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.

Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.

If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.

Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.

By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.

In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.

So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.

While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.

There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.

In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:

SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.

XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.

XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.

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