Dodgers try to avoid seventh straight loss in finale with Giants

Baseball Betting Lines

07/21/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time the Los Angeles Dodgers won their division after being at least six games back this late in the season was 1983, when the club battled back from a 6 1/2-game deficit to win the NL West.

Los Angeles is currently six games off the pace in the division standings and will try to put the brakes on a season high-tying six-game losing streak Wednesday in the finale of a three-game series versus the rival San Francisco Giants from Chavez Ravine.

The Dodgers were swept in four games at St. Louis before returning home to drop the first two portions of this series with San Francisco. It dropped its sixth straight game with last night's 7-5 setback, as the Dodgers blew a 5-1 lead and allowed six unanswered runs over the last four innings. Clayton Kershaw started for LA and allowed four runs -- two earned -- in six innings for the no-decision.

Closer Jonathan Broxton allowed three runs in one-third of an inning to absorb the loss and erase a one-run edge for the Dodgers, who have lost six in a row for the first time since June. Broxton was forced to leave the game after the umpires ruled acting manager Don Mattingly made two trips to the mound when the former Yankees legend took one step off the hill before turning back. The Dodgers were then forced to bring in George Sherrill and he immediately surrendered a two-run double by Andres Torres.

"Don thought he was still on the mound when he went back to talk to Broxton. But replays showed he was on the grass when he went back," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.

A total of three batters were hit by pitches last night, and many others were almost hit. That led to the ejections of Torre, Kershaw and Dodgers bench coach Bob Schaefer. Andre Ethier hit a two-run homer and Xavier Paul finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored in defeat. Blake DeWitt and Casey Blake each had two hits and an RBI for Los Angeles.

Los Angeles will host the New York Mets for four games after this set.

Chad Billingsley has fallen on hard times since winning four straight starts and will take the mound Wednesday for Torre's club. Billingsley won four starts in a row from May 10-May 26, but is just 1-3 with a 5.91 ERA in his last seven outings.

Billingsley last pitched in Friday's 8-4 loss at St. Louis and suffered the defeat for giving up seven runs and 10 hits in four innings of work. The loss dropped him to 7-5 in 17 starts to go along with a 4.61 ERA.

The right-hander, who is also 3-3 in eight home starts this season, squared off with San Francisco in a 4-2 win by the Bay and did not figure into the decision. Billingsley held the Giants to two runs in six innings and is 4-2 with a 3.63 ERA in 16 games (11 starts) this season.

San Francisco pulled within three games of the NL West-leading San Diego Padres with Tuesday's win, as Torres sparked a three-run ninth inning with his big hit off Sherrill in the ninth. Pablo Sandoval also knocked in two runs and Buster Posey ended with two hits and an RBI for the Giants, who have won 11 of their last 13 games and haven't swept the Dodgers in LA since April 24-26, 2007.

Tim Lincecum started for the Giants and the two-time defending NL Cy Young Award winner was reached for five runs and seven hits over 4 2/3 innings for the no-decision. Santiago Casilla got the win with two scoreless innings of relief and Jeremy Affeldt posted his third save with two K's in the ninth.

"I didn't bring my game to the table. I found myself battling every inning," Lincecum said. "A come back win in general was good for us."

Giants starter Barry Zito will take the ball Wednesday and hasn't put together back-to-back wins since opening the 2010 campaign 5-0 in his initial six trips to the hill. He was 0-2 with a 5.79 earned run average in five starts before beating the New York Mets last Thursday in a 1-0 victory. Zito tossed eight shutout innings that day and matched a season high with 10 strikeouts.

It was Zito's stingiest outing since throwing eight scoreless frames in a win over Colorado back on April 30. Zito improved to 8-4 in 19 starts and lowered his ERA from 3.76 to 3.51. The left-hander and 2002 AL Cy Young Award winner, who is 2-3 in nine away starts, will face the Dodgers for a third time this season. He is 0-0 with a 2.03 ERA in those starts, both San Francisco losses.

Zito is 6-5 with a 4.13 ERA in 15 career starts against the Dodgers.

Los Angeles has won five of eight matchups with San Francisco this season. The Dodgers swept the Giants in three games by the Bay from June 28-30 and have won 11 of the past 17 meetings between the ballclubs.

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.

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.