Dodgers hope to gain some ground in San Diego

Baseball Betting Lines

07/27/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After stumbling out of the gate to begin the second half, the Dodgers have finally started to turn things around. It's a good thing, because the National League West-leading Padres have had no such troubles since the All-Star break.

Los Angeles will be trying to close the gap with San Diego, starting tonight with the opener of a three-game series at Petco Park.

The Dodgers lost their first six games to begin the second half, but have won four of five since. That has them six games behind the first-place Padres.

Los Angeles took three of four from the Mets over the weekend despite scoring just seven runs. Russell Martin drove in the lone run in Sunday's 1-0 triumph, backing Clayton Kershaw's eight scoreless innings in which he gave up seven hits with one walk.

"Clayton is something special," said Dodger's skipper Joe Torre. "He stays focused and knows how to pitch under pressure. He's learning to pitch instead of overpowering people."

Kenley Jansen earned his first career save in his second big league outing by retiring the side in order in the ninth.

Chad Billingsley started the Dodgers' recent stretch by beating the Giants on Wednesday. The right-hander hurled the second shutout of his career in that one, a five-hitter in which he gave up two walks and struck out three.

"I stuck with my game plan and stayed down in the zone," Billingsley told Los Angeles' website. "I always try to do that, but some days it just doesn't happen."

Billingsley is 8-5 with a 4.22 earned run average on the season and 9-4 with a 2.51 ERA in 19 career games (15 starts) versus the Padres. The 26-year-old beat them on May 16 with 7 1/3 scoreless innings, yielding four hits and a walk to go along with six strikeouts.

Jon Garland will try to prevent Billingsley and the Dodgers from getting closer to the Padres in the standings. The right-hander is coming off a no- decision in Atlanta on Wednesday as he allowed four runs on six hits with a walk over five innings.

Garland has enjoyed Petco Park so far this year, going 5-1 with a 2.51 ERA in 10 starts at home. He got a no-decision versus the Dodgers as the hosting pitcher May 14 after allowing two runs over six innings. He then beat Los Angeles five days later on the road despite getting charged with four runs over five innings.

In his career versus the Dodgers, who he went 3-2 with a 2.72 ERA in six starts with last year, Garland is 2-1 with a 3.75 ERA.

The Padres have won eight of 10 since the All-Star break and return home after a 4-2 road trip. That trek was capped on Sunday with a 6-3 victory, capping a three-game sweep for San Diego.

Chris Denorfia and Adrian Gonzalez both homered for the Padres. Denorfia's home run was is sixth in 11 games, a span in which he is hitting .341 (14- for-41) with 12 RBI.

Wade LeBlanc got the victory on Sunday, yielding three runs over six innings to earn his first win since June 12.

"The big thing was establishing strike one later in the game," LeBlanc said. "It takes away some of their aggressiveness."

At 58-39, the Padres are 19 games over .500 for the first time since the conclusion of the 1998 season, which also marks their last World Series appearance.

Los Angeles has won four of five over the Padres this year, including a three- game sweep at Petco Park from May 14-16.

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March Madness odds and printable March Madness brackets

With the field of 64/65 set, MySportsbook.com has the Florida Gators as the 4-1 favorite to successfully defend their National Championship.  Men’s Division-1 College Basketball has not seen a team repeat as National Champions since Duke won back to back championships in ’91 & ‘92.  After losing three out of four late in the season, the Gators are full of momentum as they won their last four games by an average of 18 points.  Not surprisingly, right behind the Gators are the other three top seeds: Kansas 5-1, UNC 6-1, and Ohio State 7-1.  Many consider Kansas to be the hottest team in the country, having won 11 straight. With Kansas, it is hard to ignore all of the early exits from the “dance” in recent years.  With an impressive ACC Tournament, UNC ensured themselves the other top seed.  UNC has about as much talent as any other team in the tournament but with a team that’s best players are primarily freshman and sophomores, could youth be a concern.  Behind freshman sensation, Greg Oden, OSU will look to do what their football team failed to do just a few months earlier.  OSU seems to have peeked at the right time, as they currently have a 17 game winning streak.  Since the tournament field was expanded in 1985, there has never been an instance where all four #1 seeds advanced to the Final Four.  It is obvious that each of the top seeds have the talent to make it through to Atlanta.  But as everyone knows, when makes the NCAA Tournament so special are all of the spoilers and “Cinderella” stories that knock off the favorites on a daily basis.

Be sure to logon to MySportsbook.com to see check out all of the early lines and “March Madness” props.  Also be sure to enter the “$10,000,000 Perfect Bracket Contest”. If someone has the skills to predict every winner, they will be set for life and walk away with $10,000,000.  Even if no one can cash in on the Grand Prize, with a $35,000 guaranteed prize pool and a Mazda RX-8 to the first prize winner, Sportsbook.com’s bracket is a must for all “March Madness” fans.

MySportsbook.com’s odds to win the Championship and Regions:

EAST National Championship Region
Arkansas 300-1 50-1
Belmont 1000-1
Boston College 100-1 40-1
Eastern KY 1000-1
George Washington 75-1
Georgetown 10-1 3-2
Marquette 100-1 40-1
Michigan State 100-1 25-1
New Mexico St. 500-1 200-1
UNC 6-1 6-5
Oral Roberts  500-1
Texas 15-1 5-1
Texas Tech 200-1 5-1
USC 75-1 20-1
Vanderbilt 100-1 30-1
Washington State 40-1 15-1
WEST
Duke 50-1 10-1
Florida A&M 1000-1
Gonzaga 200-1  40-1
Holy Cross 300-1
Illinois 300-1 60-1
Indiana 75-1 40-1
Kansas 5-1 13-10
Kentucky 100-1 40-1
Niagara 1000-1
Pittsburgh 40-1 8-1
Southern Ill. 50-1 12-1
UCLA 10-1 3-2
VCU 500-1 100-1
Villanova 100-1 40-1
VA Tech 50-1 15-1
Weber St 1000-1
Wright St 1000-1 300-1
MIDWEST
Arizona 50-1 30-1
Butler 40-1 30-1
Davidson 300-1
Florida 4-1 4-5
Georgia Tech 75-1 25-1
Jackson State 1000-1
Maryland 30-1 6-1
Miami-OH 300-1
Notre Dame 100-1 20-1
ODU 500-1 100-1
Oregon 40-1 6-1
Purdue 300-1 60-1
Texas A&M CC 1000-1
UNLV 100-1 30-1
Winthrop 500-1 100-1
Wisconsin 15-1 7-2
SOUTH
Albany 200-1
BYU 200-1 40-1
Central CT St. 1000-1
Creighton 100-1 35-1
Long Beach St. 500-1 200-1
Louisville 40-1 10-1
Memphis 30-1 4-1
Nevada 75-1 35-1
North Texas 500-1
Ohio State 7-1 6-5
Penn 500-1
Stanford 200-1 50-1
Tennessee 100-1 20-1
Texas A&M 12-1 11-5
Virginia 75-1 18-1
Xavier 100-1 40-1

Field                                              100-1

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