Carpenter aims to pitch Cards past slumping Braves

Baseball Betting Lines

09/10/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Cardinals co-ace Chris Carpenter has recorded 16 wins in a season only twice in his career, He'll be looking to reach that mark again tonight in the second installment of a four-game series against the Atlanta Braves from Turner Field.

Carpenter won a career-best 21 games in 2005 and finished last season with a 17-4 mark. This year the right-hander is 15-5 with a 2.90 ERA in 30 starts and has won six of his last eight decisions.

St. Louis is counting on Carpenter to keep the club within striking distance of a playoff spot. He is coming off a win over rival Cincinnati on Sunday in which he allowed only two runs through 7 1/3 innings.

The right-hander has lasted at least six innings in 12 straight trips to the mound and will face Atlanta for the second time this season. Carpenter beat the Braves on April 27 at Busch Stadium, allowing two runs in six innings of a 5-4 win. He is 3-2 in eight lifetime starts versus Atlanta to go along with a less desirable 5.83 earned run average.

St. Louis put up enough runs in last night's 11-4 win over the Braves for fellow staff ace Adam Wainwright, who yielded three runs and seven hits in eight innings to record his 18th win of the season. Wainwright (18-10) was rattled for all three runs in the first, but settled down after his team posted a five-spot in the top of the second inning.

Skip Schumaker clubbed a two-run homer in the frame and Colby Rasmus ended with a pair of solo homers and four RBI for the Cardinals, winners of four of their last seven games.

"It's definitely not the way we wanted to start out," said Rasmus, who finished 4-for-4 with three runs scored. "But we couldn't do anything about it. We put a five-spot on them, that was huge."

Albert Pujols got into the act with his 37th home run of the season, while Brendan Ryan plated a pair of baserunners to help pull the Cardinals within five games of the National League Central-leading Reds. Cincinnati has lost five in a row to give St. Louis a glimmer of hope.

Meanwhile, the Braves have lost six of their last eight games to fall out of the first place in the NL East. Now sitting a game behind Philadelphia for division bragging rights, Atlanta played poorly in Thursday's setback.

Jair Jurrjens got the nod for Bobby Cox's club and was hammered for seven runs and 10 hits in only 3 2/3 innings, falling to 7-5 on the season.

"Just everything was up," Jurrjens said. "They've got a really good lineup, and they have really good hitters on that team when you leave the pitches up. It seems like I was throwing [batting practice] the whole game."

Derrek Lee clubbed a two-run homer during a three-run first inning for the Braves, who lead the National League Wild Card race by a game ahead of San Francisco, while both Jason Heyward and Eric Hinske drove in a run in the loss. The Giants topped San Diego last night in the opener of their crucial series with the Padres.

Braves rookie Mike Minor hopes to make a major impact tonight for his club and is 3-0 with a 5.33 earned run average over his first five big league starts. After winning three straight trips to the bump, Minor did not record a decision in Sunday's 7-6 loss at Florida, as he was touched for six runs and nine hits in four frames. He struck out five batters.

Minor, a left-hander, will face St. Louis for the first time tonight.

The Cardinals swept a four-game set from the Braves in late April at Busch Stadium and have won five straight in this series.

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Super Bowl 2009 Betting

Super Bowl 2009 Betting propositions

Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.

Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.

Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.

If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.

Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.

By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.

In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.

So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.

While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.

There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.

In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:

SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.

XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.

XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.

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