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09/03/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The door has been left open for the Giants to make a run at the National League West title. That means now would be a good time for Barry Zito to get back on track.
The struggling former Cy Young Award winner will try to snap a six-decision losing streak and pitch San Francisco to a fourth straight win over Los Angeles this evening in the opener of a three-game set at Dodger Stadium.
Though the Giants have won just three times in their last seven games overall, they are just three back of the first-place Padres in the division standings thanks to San Diego's current seven-game slide. San Francisco is also just two games back of NL Wild Card-leading Philadelphia.
The Giants kicked off a string of 16 straight games versus NL West opponents by losing two of three to the Diamondbacks, but rebounded to take two of three at home versus the Rockies. San Francisco now plays its next 10 on the road, a trek that concludes with four games at San Diego from Sept. 9-12.
San Francisco took Wednesday's rubber match of a three-game set with Colorado, 2-1, as Tim Lincecum outdueled Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez.
Lincecum gave up just a run and struck out nine over eight innings for his first victory since July 30.
The Giants scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as Mike Fontenot worked a walk off Jimenez. Lincecum's sacrifice bunt then moved a pinch- running Darren Ford to second before Jimenez uncorked a wild pitch. Ford broke for third and the throw to the bag by Colorado catcher Miguel Olivo was high, allowing Ford to come home.
"It was a great game for both sides tonight," said Fontenot, who had a run- scoring single in the fifth. "Tim came out and really threw the ball well."
The Giants might need to supply some more offense tonight given that Zito has posted an 11.48 earned run average over his last four appearances, a span that includes three starts. Zito has picked up a loss in all four outings, yielding 17 earned runs in 13 1/3 innings.
The 32-year-old lefty hasn't won since July 16 and lasted just 3 2/3 innings versus Arizona on Saturday, yielding nine runs -- seven earned -- on six hits and five walks.
"I'm just not in a good rhythm. The pitches just aren't crisp right now," Zito said. "It requires working hard between starts."
Zito, who is 8-10 with a 4.07 ERA this year, has held the Dodgers to a pair of runs or fewer in all four starts versus them this year, but is just 0-1 despite the 1.95 ERA as the Giants have plated just five runs in his starts.
He got a no-decision versus the Dodgers on July 31 despite seven innings of one-run ball, as game won by the Giants as part of a three-game home sweep. By winning five of the last six meetings between the clubs, San Francisco and Los Angeles have split 12 overall meetings and six in LA so far this year.
Los Angeles has lost four of its last five and dropped the rubber match of a three-game set with Philadelphia, 5-1, on Wednesday. The Dodgers did not get their first hit off Phillies starter Roy Oswalt until there were two outs in the sixth inning and managed just James Loney's RBI hit in the eighth frame.
"We made Roy work for it. He's effective because he can throw a number of pitches for strikes. He keeps you guessing," said Dodgers manager Joe Torre. "We need to be more productive in the middle of our lineup. We still have a six or seven-game winning streak in us, but we need to do it now."
Clayton Kershaw struck out 11 in six innings, but was touched for five hits and two runs in the loss.
Chad Billingsley will start tonight for the Dodgers and has lost three of his last four decisions. The righty is coming off a loss in Colorado on Saturday after giving up three runs on five hits and five walks over six innings without a strikeout, falling to 10-8 with a 3.73 ERA this year.
Billingsley, who has a 2.06 ERA over his last eight starts, is 1-0 in three games versus the Giants this year and hasn't allowed a run over his last two starts against them, spanning 15 2/3 innings. That includes a five-hit shutout for the 26-year-old at home on July 21.
The Giants have won six of seven over the Dodgers this season, but are just 6-6 in the season series.
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The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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