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08/23/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When the Chicago Cubs begin a six-game road trip with tonight's first of three straight meetings with the Washington Nationals, they won't have their manager along for the ride.
Still stunned by the abrupt retirement of Lou Piniella, Chicago heads to Nationals Park this evening seeking to win for only the second time in its last eight contests. The club hardly gave the longtime skipper a fitting sendoff on Sunday, dropping a lopsided 16-5 decision to the National League East-leading Atlanta Braves at Wrigley Field.
Piniella had announced earlier this summer that he would step down at the end of the season, but pushed the timetable up in order to attend to his ailing mother in Florida. The 66-year-old has spent the last 48 years involved in baseball as either a player, manager, or broadcaster, and won a total of 1,835 games over 23 seasons piloting five different teams.
"It's a good day to remember and it's also a good day to forget," said Piniella, who guided the 1990 Cincinnati Reds to a World Series title and is one of only five men to win at least three Manager of the Year awards, afterward. "I cried a bit after the game, it was a very emotional day cause it will be the last time I put on a uniform. My experience in baseball has been very special."
Atlanta took a 5-3 lead on Omar Infante's three-run homer off Chicago starter Randy Wells in the fourth inning, then scored 11 times over the final three frames to pull away.
Wells (5-12) was tagged for seven runs (five earned) and three homers before exiting with nobody out in the top of the seventh.
Aramis Ramirez had put the Cubs briefly ahead with a two-run homer in the bottom of the third and finished 3-for-4 in Piniella's finale. Starlin Castro had a four-hit day for Chicago, while Marlon Byrd went 3-for-5 with an RBI single in the loss.
Third base coach Mike Quade will assume managerial duties for the remainder of the season and will send youngster Casey Coleman to the mound for the opener of this set. The rookie will be making his second start in the majors after appearing in four games as a long reliever.
Coleman's starting debut wasn't a success, as the right-hander was reached for three runs on six hits and issued three walks over 4 1/3 innings in a home loss to San Diego last Wednesday. The 23-year-old had performed reasonably well in that role in the minors prior to his early-August callup, compiling a 10-7 record with a 4.07 earned run average in 20 starts for Triple-A Iowa.
He could be throwing to a new battery mate on Monday, as catcher Geovany Soto appears ready to return from a stint on the disabled list due to a sprained right shoulder. The 2008 NL Rookie of the Year has not played since August 6 due to the injury.
While Coleman will be beginning a major league game for only the second time, Washington's Livan Hernandez is set for the 438th start of his lengthy career this evening. The journeyman right-hander has put together a solid season for the last-place Nationals in 2010, having registered an 8-8 record along with a solid 3.06 ERA in 25 games.
One of those victories came at the expense of the Cubs back in April, when Hernandez yielded one run over seven sharp innings in a 3-1 Nationals triumph at Wrigley Field. The effort improved the native Cuban to 11-6 with a 3.84 ERA in 21 lifetime starts against Chicago.
The 35-year-old hasn't shown any signs of wearing down in the second half, as he's delivered an excellent 2.30 ERA in seven starts since the All-Star break despite only a 2-3 record. In his most recent assignment, Hernandez limited the Braves to two runs through seven innings in a no-decision this past Wednesday.
Washington has mustered only four runs over Hernandez's past three starts, and the club also did little at the plate in Sunday's loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. The Nationals managed just five hits against Roy Oswalt and two Philadelphia relievers in a 6-0 setback, the team's second shutout defeat of the three-game series.
"When you come [to Philadelphia] you know you're going to see a good rotation," said Washington manager Jim Riggleman. "You just have to be ready to go out there and bang out a few runs and we haven't been doing that often enough."
The Nationals went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position on Sunday and finished a six-game trip against Atlanta and Philadelphia with a 2-4 record.
Scott Olsen (3-6) started and lost yesterday's contest after surrendering four runs and nine hits over six innings of work.
The Nationals took two of three tests from the Cubs at Wrigley Field in April, but Chicago swept a four-game set between the teams in Washington last season.
<< Myers tries to derail Phils' playoff hopes
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - An outstanding recent stretch has the Philadelphia
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You can bet Brett Myers will be determined to stop that roll from continuing.
Myers will fa
<< Braves turn to Hudson in opener with Rox
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off to a good
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three-game series t
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Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Thrashers have re-signed forward
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Goydos withdraws from playoffs opener >>
Paramus, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Goydos has withdrawn from The Barclays.
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It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.
We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.
Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.
Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.
Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.
NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.
The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
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