Cardinals shoot for needed series win in Milwaukee

Baseball Betting Lines

09/08/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It took a lot longer than expected, but Milwaukee reliever Trevor Hoffman finally picked up his 600th career save. The St. Louis Cardinals would have preferred that he waited a few more days.

The Cardinals will try to rebound tonight for a series win as Jamie Garcia tries for a fourth straight winning start in the finale of a three-game set with the Brewers at Miller Park.

Hoffman began the season as Milwaukee's closer and with 591 career saves, the most all-time, but struggled early on and eventually lost his role to John Axford. However, with the Brewers long out of the playoff race, manager Ken Macha has given the 42-year-old some opportunities to close out games.

Last night's save, as Hoffman locked down a 4-2 Milwaukee win, was his third since Aug. 18 and helped him reach the milestone.

"Accomplishments like this are shared among a lot of people, and I think it just validates the work you put in and the ballplayer that good things can happen," Hoffman said.

Casey McGehee put the Brewers ahead for good with a two-run single in the fifth inning, driving in three runs total on three hits. Prince Fielder also drove in a run for Milwaukee, which had lost six of seven coming in.

Chris Narveson picked up the win, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out nine over seven innings.

Yadier Molina and Colby Rasmus each drove in a run for the Cardinals, who had won three of four and remained six games back of Cincinnati for first place in the National League Central. They are also 5 1/2 games off the pace in the NL Wild Card race.

Kyle Lohse took the loss, yielding four runs in five innings.

"Tough way to lose. It's frustrating to give up the two-out hits again," Lohse said.

The Cardinals hope that Garcia has better luck tonight, a safe bet given that the 24-year-old is 3-0 with a 0.86 earned run average over his last three starts. After posting two straight scoreless outings that spanned 14 1/3 innings, Garcia was charged with two runs over 6 2/3 frames in beating the Reds on Friday.

The left-hander is 13-6 with a 2.35 ERA this year, and that includes a loss to the Brewers on Aug. 17, even though he allowed just three unearned runs over six innings. Garcia is 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA in five lifetime meetings with Milwaukee, four of those starts.

Chris Capuano counters for the Brewers and he is coming off a tough loss to Philadelphia on Friday. The 32-year-old southpaw allowed just a run over five innings, but got no support in a 1-0 setback.

Capuano is 2-3 with a 4.62 ERA in 19 games this year, four of those starts. He is 4-5 with a 5.59 ERA in 13 career games against the Cardinals, all but one of those starts.

Milwaukee and St. Louis have split 14 meetings this year, with the Brewers winning six of the last nine meetings.

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Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook

Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds.  The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.

Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.

Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).

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World Series odds

Adam Dunn 15-1

Albert Pujols 5-1

Alex Rodriguez 12-1

Alfonso Soriano 15-1

Andruw Jones 25-1

Barry Bonds 50-1

Carlos Delgado 40-1

David Ortiz 8-1

Jermaine Dye 40-1

Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1

Lance Berkman 40-1

Manny Ramirez 20-1

Richie Sexson 40-1

Ryan Howard 6-1

Travis Hafner 20-1

Vladimir Guerrero 40-1

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