Brewers, Bucs resume series between slumping clubs

Baseball Betting Lines

07/10/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Right-hander Dave Bush can beat his hometown team for the second time this season when the Milwaukee Brewers host the Pittsburgh Pirates tonight in the middle game of a three-game series at Miller Park.

The Brewers won Friday's opener in dramatic fashion, scoring a run in the eighth and ninth innings to tie the contest before claiming a 5-4 decision in 10 frames. Ryan Braun lined an opposite-field single over Ryan Church's head in right field to score Rickie Weeks with the game-winning run for Milwaukee.

Braun, who earlier in the game snapped out of an 0-for-19 slump, came up with runners on first and second and two outs in the 10th after Evan Meek (4-3) intentionally walked Prince Fielder. He then struck the game-winning hit to end Milwaukee's five-game slide, with Weeks scoring without a play at the plate.

Fielder added a solo homer and Corey Hart had a two-run blast in the win, which was credited to John Axford (4-1) after he struck out Pedro Alvarez and Ryan Doumit to strand a runner on third in the top of the 10th.

Doug Davis, in his first start since May 10, surrendered four runs on seven hits and three walks over five innings for Milwaukee. His counterpart, Paul Maholm, held the Brewers to two runs on three hits and a pair of walks in a seven-inning no-decision.

Andrew McCutchen went 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBI for the Pirates, losers of four straight overall. Lastings Milledge added two hits, including a solo homer.

Bush, a 30-year-old veteran of 178 major-league appearances, beat the Pirates on April 20 in Pittsburgh by allowing just three hits in seven scoreless innings. The win raised his career mark against Pittsburgh - where he was born in November of 1979 - to 4-4 in 13 appearances and lowered his earned run average against the Pirates to 4.40 in 73 2/3 innings.

More recently, Bush has gone two starts since his last win, an 8-3 downing of Seattle on June 25. He's since lost to Houston and gotten a no-decision against San Francisco while giving up just three runs in 10 hits in 12 innings.

Bush is 1-4 with a 4.47 over nine starts in Milwaukee this season.

For the Pirates, California-born right-hander Jeff Karstens makes his eighth career appearance against the Brewers while still seeking his first win.

An ex-New York Yankees farmhand, Karstens tossed 6 2/3 innings of two-run ball against Milwaukee in his initial appearance of 2010 and added two-thirds of an inning of scoreless relief in a subsequent matchup on May 20. He got no- decisions in both games and is 0-1 with a 3.45 ERA in 28 2/3 overall innings against the Brewers.

His last victory came June 19 in an interleague matchup with Cleveland. Since then, Karstens is 0-1 with a pair of no-decisions while giving up 23 hits and 11 runs in 17 1/3 innings. He's 0-3 in nine road games this season.

Milwaukee has won six of its nine matchups with the Pirates this season and is 29-9 against the Bucs since the start of the 2008 campaign.

Wwwthriveonline Baseball Betting News

<< Rays strive for rebound in latest battle with Indians
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays had a six-game winning streak halted on Friday and will attempt to get back on track tonight, when they continue a four-game series with the Cleveland Indians at Tropicana Field. Lefty Aaron Laffey will

<< Phils to send out Halladay against first-place Reds
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies have needed extra innings and stirring late comebacks to win the first two matchups of their four-game series with the Cincinnati Reds. With Roy Halladay set to pitch tonight, it shouldn't be so diff

<< Giants try to bounce back in middle matchup with Nationals
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A San Francisco Giants offense that had been putting up runs in bunches lately was shut down by phenom Stephen Strasburg in Friday's opener of a three-game series with the Washington Nationals. The unit will attempt to reclai

<< White Sox vie to remain hot in second test with Royals
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. Cellular Field is the site of tonight's clash between the Kansas City Royals and hometown Chicago White Sox, as the two teams continue a three-game weekend set. On the hill for Kansas City tonight will be Brian Bannis

<< Dodgers aim for third straight win over crumbling Cubs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- The Chicago Cubs started out their current West Coast trip in fine fashion, but the club still hasn't been able to solve its longtime problems at Dodger Stadium. After dropping the first two tests of this four-game series

Still-winless Suppan gets call for Cards against Astros >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran right-hander Jeff Suppan tries again to end a season-long drought when the St. Louis Cardinals visit Minute Maid Park tonight for the second of three weekend games with the Houston Astros. The Cardinals won Friday'

Lee set to make Texas debut against Orioles >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh of Friday's acquisition of star pitcher Cliff Lee, the first-place Texas Rangers continue their four-game series against the lowly Baltimore Orioles in Arlington tonight. It appeared that the New York Yankees had a d

Marlins continue road trip with another test in Arizona >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former first-round draft pick Ian Kennedy tries again to snap a nearly two-month free-fall when the Arizona Diamondbacks host the Florida Marlins tonight in the third game of their four-game series at Chase Field. The tea

Angels aim to further bury struggling A's >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are set to play the second contest of a three-game weekend series from the Coliseum this evening. Pitcher Scott Kazmir has fallen far short of expectations for the An

Serbia wins doubles to go up on Croatia in Davis Cup >>
Split, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Janko Tipsarevic and Nenad Zimonjic took an easy doubles win Saturday to give Serbia an advantage over Croatia in the best-of-five Davis Cup quarterfinal between the rival nations. Tipsarevic and Zimo

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.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.


MySportsbook is considered one of the finest football betting sportsbooks according to several surveys performed by independent industry analysts considering such factors as payout accuracy and timeliness, overall quality of website, and bettor satisfaction.

MySportsbook is a large company with strong financial backing. Considered the best sportsbook for betting football online You will find their customer service is second to none and their web site is extremely user friendly and easy-to-use. All major professional sports games are available. Once you signup with MySportsbook, you may never use another online sportsbook again.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football wagering needs.