Slumping Padres head to Colorado for divisional showdown

Baseball Betting Lines

07/23/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres will try and stop a three-game slide when they play the first of three contests against the NL West-rival Colorado Rockies tonight at Coors Field.

San Diego just dropped three of four to the Philadelphia Phillies, including Sunday's 9-0 loss in the series finale. Padres All-Star pitcher Jake Peavy lasted six innings, allowing four runs on nine hits to go along with six strikeouts and two walks.

The Padres, losers of nine of their last 14 games, registered just five hits on the day and sit one game behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the lead in the National League West standings.

Toeing the rubber for San Diego this evening will be Greg Maddux, who is 7-7 with a 4.17 earned run average in 20 starts this season. Maddux is winless over his previous four outings (0-3) and did not post a decision on Wednesday against the New York Mets, despite hurling five shutout innings of four-hit ball during an eventual 5-4 San Diego victory.

Maddux, who is 2-3 in 10 road starts this season, is 0-2 with a 5.83 ERA in two starts against Colorado in 2007. In 23 career starts against the Rockies, the righty is 12-7 with a shutout and a 4.25 earned run average.

Colorado has lost two straight games and dropped three of four to the Washington Nationals over the weekend. In Sunday's 3-0 loss in the series finale, Todd Helton had two hits and starter Josh Fogg pitched six scoreless innings of three-hit ball. Jorge Julio then absorbed the loss for giving up all three Washington runs in the eighth inning.

Trying to keep an unbeaten streak intact tonight will be Rockies starter Jeff Francis, who is 10-5 with a 4.07 ERA in 20 starts this season. He is unbeaten over his past seven outings, having posted a 5-0 record with a 4.60 ERA.

Francis has won back-to-back starts and defeated Pittsburgh the last time out on Wednesday, permitting two runs in seven frames of a 5-3 victory.

The left-hander was beaten by San Diego earlier this season on April 21, when he allowed 13 hits and six runs in a 7-3 setback. In 12 career starts against the Padres, Francis is 4-8 with a 5.75 earned run average.

San Diego is 4-2 against the Rockies this season, including a 2-1 mark at Coors Field. Colorado went 10-9 in last season's series with the Padres.

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2007 NFL Football Betting Preview


“You play to win the game!”

Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.

The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.

The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.

Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?

Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.

New York Giants betting lines

Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.

Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.

Dallas Cowboys betting lines

Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.

The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.

Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.

Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.

Oakland Raiders betting lines

This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.

First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”

The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason. 

Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.

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