Dodgers take losing streak into Houston

Baseball Betting Lines

09/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers try to avoid a season-high sixth consecutive loss this evening when they open a four-game series against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.

The Dodgers' playoff chances took a big hit this week, as they dropped two of three at home to the San Francisco Giants, then lost all three games of their series to the National League West-leading San Diego Padres, falling 4-0 on Wednesday to drop 11 games back of the division leaders.

Matt Kemp doubled for the Dodgers, who have dropped seven of eight to fall two games below .500 (69-71). Chad Billingsley (11-9) surrendered four runs, six hits and five walks in just 5 1/3 frames to take the loss.

"(Billingsley) certainly deserved a better fate, but we didn't score any runs," said Los Angeles manager Joe Torre.

Tonight, the Dodgers will turn to lefty Ted Lilly, who is 8-9 on the season with a 3.55 earned run average. Lilly did not get a decision on Saturday against the Giants, as he allowed two runs and three hits in seven innings of his team's 5-4 loss.

Since being acquired from the Cubs, Lilly has gone 5-1 with a 3.18 ERA over seven starts.

Lilly has dominated the Astros over the course of his career, going 7-1 against them with a 2.19 ERA in 12 starts.

Lilly will be opposed by righty Bud Norris, who is winless in his last three starts. Norris did not get a decision on Saturday in Arizona, but was hit hard, as he surrendered five runs and eight hits with three walks in just 4 2/3 innings of his team's 6-5 triumph. He is 6-8 on the year with a 5.34 ERA.

Norris lost to the Dodgers the only other time he faced them, allowing six runs in 4 1/3 frames back on May 18.

Houston comes into tonight's tilt red-hot after taking two of three from the Chicago Cubs. On Wednesday, Brett Myers struck out eight in seven shutout innings to continue his dominance of the Cubs and lead the Astros to a 4-0 win.

Myers (11-7) allowed just three hits and walked one, improving to 3-0 in four starts against Chicago this season. He has given up only four earned runs in those outings (1.21 ERA) and struck out 34 in 29 2/3 innings.

Additionally, Myers extended his franchise record by pitching at least six innings for the 29th consecutive start.

Houston got a home run from Hunter Pence and run-scoring hits out of Humberto Quintero and Chris Johnson to win for the fourth time in five games and for the eighth time in its last 10 tries.

"Every time he goes out there, as you've seen, he's given us six innings or more every outing," Pence said of Myers. "Just gives you a great chance to win. He competes, he knows what he's doing out there. It's fun to play behind him."

The Dodgers swept a two-game series from the Astros back in May.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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