Cardinals try to avoid sweep versus streaking Astros

Baseball Betting Lines

08/04/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If the St. Louis Cardinals come up short in their quest to capture this year's National League Central title, the team can point to its performance against the non-contending Houston Astros as a reason for that failure.

The Astros have been an awfully tough opponent as of late, however, and the resurgent club will be aiming for an eighth straight victory and sweep of this three-game series when it takes on the Cardinals once again tonight at Busch Stadium.

Houston has surprisingly thrived since shipping away former All-Stars Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman in the days prior to last Saturday's trade deadline. The Astros haven't lost since making those deals, and the offense showed it hasn't suffered in Berkman's absence by battering St. Louis pitching in an 18-4 rout last night.

The Astros racked up 22 hits as a team and fell just one run shy of matching a franchise single-game record in that category. Shortstop Angel Sanchez established personal bests with four hits and six RBI, while Chris Johnson finished 2-for-3 and knocked in three runs on the evening.

Carlos Lee and Pedro Feliz each collected three hits for Houston, which will be seeking its first eight-game win streak since August 27-September 3, 2008.

The scoring barrage made a winner out of starting pitcher Bud Norris (4-7), who worked the first six innings and allowed four runs while striking out six.

Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia (9-5) had a worse night than his counterpart, as the rookie was rocked for eight runs (four earned) and 10 hits before being lifted with none out in the top of the sixth. Five of those runs came during a big second inning in which the Astros sent nine men to the plate.

"It was a rough one, definitely a bad outing," said Garcia. "It was a tough second inning. After that inning, I tried to do the best I could to stay in the game and go as deep as I could."

St. Louis did receive solo homers from Colby Rasmus and Matt Holliday in Monday's forgettable defeat, with Rasmus ending 3-for-5 with two runs scored.

The Cardinals, who came into last night's clash off a three-game home sweep of Pittsburgh, remained a half-game behind front-running Cincinnati in the NL Central standings. The team has now lost seven of 11 meetings with the fourth- place Astros this season, and Houston has prevailed in its last six matchups with St. Louis held in Busch Stadium.

St. Louis will attempt to rebound tonight behind co-staff ace Chris Carpenter, who's been sensational for the defending division champions since the All-Star break. The 2005 NL Cy Young Award recipient has yielded a mere five runs in four starts to begin the second half, while lasting eight innings in three of those assignments.

Carpenter began his post-break tear with back-to-back victories over the Dodgers and Phillies, but has been left with no-decisions in his past two outings despite pitching well both times. The veteran righty fired eight shutout frames against Pittsburgh this past Friday in a game that remained scoreless into the 10th inning, five days after allowing three runs in a seven-inning stint at Chicago's Wrigley Field.

The 35-year-old enters tonight's clash sporting an excellent 11-3 overall record, which includes an 8-2 mark at Busch Stadium, but was dealt a home loss by the Astros back on May 13 after being reached for four runs over eight innings. That stopped a streak of 13 consecutive winning decisions for Carpenter against NL West teams that dated back to the beginning of the 2009 season.

In 15 career meetings with Houston, Carpenter has gone 6-4 with a 2.77 earned run average and tossed five complete games.

The Astros counter with recent acquisition J.A. Happ, who did quite a job replacing longtime franchise ace Oswalt in his Houston debut. Against Milwaukee on Friday, the steady left-hander surrendered only two hits and struck out a season-best six batters over six shutout innings in leading his new team to a 5-0 victory.

Happ, the runner up for the 2009 NL Rookie of the Year Award, came over from Philadelphia along with a pair of minor leaguers in last Thursday's trade of Oswalt. The Astros also obtained current first baseman Brett Wallace as an offshoot of that deal, with the team flipping outfield prospect Anthony Gose to Toronto for his services.

The 27-year-old Happ burst onto the scene by amassing a 12-4 record and a 2.93 ERA in 35 appearances (23 starts) for last season's NL champion Phillies, but has been held to only four starts at the major league level this year due to a forearm strain. He's been very good when healthy, having permitted just four runs -- three earned -- over 21 1/3 innings while posting two wins and a pair of no-decisions.

Happ is 0-1 with a 5.11 ERA in two previous starts against the Cardinals and will be pitching at Busch Stadium for the first time tonight.

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American Idol Betting Season 6 Strategies  

It's that time of year folks.  Betting on American Idol Season 9.  And we have plenty of American Idol Season 6 strategies appearing below.  With the Top 24 finalists revealed, online gambling sites will be offering betting odds on each of them, including MySportsbook.com.

No other “event” has been growing as fast as wagering on American Idol. It has turned into a huge betting event with reasonably high limits and all sorts of profit-making potential for sharp bettors. Last year, MySportsbook.com experienced unprecedented traffic as a result of the American Idol betting craze.

Every week there will be odds to win American Idol, various elimination props and contestant versus contestant match-ups at the MySportsbook.com website.

Whether a fan of America’s top-rated show or watching only because of a wife or girlfriend, here are some of basic strategies to use when betting American Idol.

Odds to Win

There are a few things to consider when looking for the right win bet. First off, remember that this bet is for the long haul. Many people make the mistake of picking the performer who sang the best the previous week. This strategy leads to an underlay situation – betting a price, which is less than what it should be.

All Idol contestants struggle at some point in the competition, so you should always look for value. In last year’s competition alone, two performers who had some of the best performances early in the series were subsequently bet down to low prices - Lisa Tucker and Ace Young. After just a few weeks, Tucker had already been eliminated, while Young quickly became a huge long shot to win America’s largest talent search.

A better strategy is to look for performers who don’t necessarily get the praise from the judges, but show flashes of the talent necessary to go the distance.

Another important thing to remember when betting any contestant to win is the demographic breakdown of the voters, the viewing public and potential future CD purchasers. Unlike sporting events, American Idol is not decided on the field of play – it’s decided by the American public under the guiding influence of the shows producers.

Understand that the great state of Alabama has a mighty edge when it comes to American Idol. 

Therefore, to be successful betting on American Idol, put any personal opinions or prejudices aside and think like the majority of the voting public. Remember that the typical voter is young, female and quite often, Southern.

If a contestant cannot appeal to this demographic, no matter how much talent he or she possesses, they’ll struggle for votes. Looks, demeanor and charisma are extremely important. And it’s no coincidence that every Idol winner so far has hailed from a Southern state.

Elimination Props

Every week MySportsbook.com anticipates offering a prop on who’ll be eliminated from the show each Wednesday night. A suggestion to handicap this is to gauge an overall feel for who’s the least popular contestant left in the competition. Generally the least popular performers have recently appeared in the bottom three and will have been the target of repeated criticism from the judges.

Last year, resources included dialidol.com and votefortheworst.com. Dialidol.com measures the volume of each contestant’s voting line. While by no means a perfect science, it does give a good indication of who is generating votes and who isn’t. Meanwhile, votefortheworst.com is a site that attempts to build support for the worst competitor to keep them in the competition for ‘entertainment’ value. The site has a proven track record of keeping performers around who most feel should have been voted off a long time ago.

Contestant vs. Contestant Match-ups

The best strategy for doing well on match-ups is to assess how close either of the contestants is to being eliminated. If neither is expected to be voted off of the show in the coming weeks, the value is almost always on the underdog. If both are expecting an imminent exit in the near future, the favorite in the match-up might offer value.

Watch for American Idol betting odds on each of the contestants shortly and good luck with these American Idol betting strategies.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.