Reds seek rare series win at Dodger Stadium

Baseball Betting Lines

08/22/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds found their success at Dodger Stadium short-lived thanks to Los Angeles' use of the long ball last night.

The Reds, who had a season-high seven-game winning streak halted, will look to rebound tonight behind Bronson Arroyo as they aim for their first series win at Chavez Ravine since 2004 in the finale of a three-game set against Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers.

The Reds halted a 12-game skid at Dodger Stadium on Friday, their first win at the ballpark since July 28, 2005, but saw the Dodgers hit four homers in Saturday's 8-5 winning decision by Los Angeles.

Johnny Cueto, returning from a seven-game suspension, was drilled for all four homers and five runs total over three innings, falling to 11-4.

"Johnny couldn't find the strike zone," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "He lost his rhythm and they started hitting the ball out of the ballpark. We were playing catch-up, but we couldn't trade runs with them."

Joey Votto drove in two runs for the Reds, who had an eight-game road winning streak halted. Their lead for first place in the National League Central was also trimmed to 3 1/2 games over the Cardinals, who beat San Francisco earlier Saturday.

Ryan Theriot and Andre Ethier hit back-to-back homers in the second inning and Jay Gibbons and Matt Kemp blasted consecutive home runs the following frame for the Dodgers, who pulled within seven games of the NL Wild Card spot.

Chad Billingsley allowed seven hits and three runs over 5 2/3 innings for his first victory since July 27.

"Four home runs, that came out of nowhere," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "We kept coming at them and did some good things. Chad was okay. He had a tightness in his calf. That's why I took him out."

The Dodgers activated Manny Ramirez from the disabled list prior to the game, but he went hitless in three at-bats with two strikeouts before being replaced by Reed Johnson in left to start the sixth inning.

The Reds, who split six games at home with the Dodgers prior to this set, haven't won a series at Dodger Stadium since a three-game sweep from May 14-16, 2004, and will aim to do so tonight behind Arroyo.

Arroyo will be trying to win for the fourth time in his last five starts this afternoon and is coming off Tuesday's victory in Arizona. The right-hander gave up two runs on six hits and a pair of walks over 7 1/3 innings, claiming a 6-2 triumph while improving to 13-7 on the year with a 3.87 earned run average.

Arroyo, 33, doubled his career win total versus the Dodgers when he beat them on June 17 with seven innings of one-run ball. He worked around five hits and a season-high six walks, improving to 2-4 with a 4.21 ERA lifetime versus Los Angeles.

Kershaw goes for a second straight winning outing after the Dodgers' left- hander halted a three-start winless skid (0-2) on Tuesday versus Colorado.

Kershaw hurled seven innings of scoreless ball, limiting the Rockies to five hits and three walks while striking out six. He upped his season record to 11-7 to go along with a 3.03 ERA.

The 22-year-old earned his first career victory over the Reds in his second start versus them on June 16, holding them to a run on seven hits over 7 1/3 frames to go along with seven strikeouts.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.

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).

Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.

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

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