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Dodgers try to get back into playoff mix in opener with PadresBaseball Betting Lines08/02/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers made a number of moves at the trade deadline in an effort to bolster their fading playoff hopes. The time is now to see whether or not they'll pay off. Mired in a costly five-game losing streak, the revamped Dodgers seek to rebound when they return home this evening to take on the National League West-leading San Diego Padres in the opener of a four-game series that could prove to be critical for both team's chances of reaching the postseason. Los Angeles acquired four veteran players prior to Saturday's deadline in an effort to return to the playoffs for a third straight year. General manager Ned Colletti began the wheeling and dealing by nabbing speedy outfielder Scott Podsednik from Kansas City on Wednesday, then brought in starting pitcher Ted Lilly and second baseman Ryan Theriot from the Chicago Cubs on Saturday before landing reliever Octavio Dotel in a swap with Pittsburgh. The moves may be a sign of desperation for the Dodgers, who fell to 6 1/2 games behind rival San Francisco for the lead in the NL Wild Card race after dropping all three matchups with the Giants over the weekend. Los Angeles enters this set eight games back of the surprising Padres in the division standings. Dotel and Theriot made their Dodger debuts in Sunday's finale with the Giants, but neither was able to prevent their new team from being dealt a 2-0 loss. Los Angeles mustered only four hits off Matt Cain and two San Francisco relievers in falling to 5-12 since the All-Star break. Theriot went 0-for-4 batting second in the lineup, while Podsednik had a single in four at-bats from the leadoff spot. He's hitting just .200 in four games since coming over from the Royals. A lack of offense has crippled Los Angeles as of late, as Joe Torre's squad has managed only nine runs during its five-game slide and has scored two or less in nine of its last 11 contests. "Right now, unless we play better, we are where we deserve to be," said Torre after Sunday's loss. "We've got to change that and certainly change the personality and the confidence before we can concern ourselves with how far back we are." On a positive note, the Dodgers expect to have Andre Ethier back in the lineup tonight after the All-Star outfielder sat out the final two tests of the San Francisco series to attend the birth of his child. The Dodgers did get good pitching out of Clayton Kershaw (10-6) in yesterday's setback, with the talented lefty allowing two runs and striking out six over seven innings in the tough-luck result. Lilly is scheduled to pitch Tuesday's second game of this series, with Hiroki Kuroda getting the call for Los Angeles in the opener. The Japan native comes in having lost four of his last five starts and has often been the victim of poor run support, as the Dodgers scored a total of one run over three of those defeats. Kuroda was reached for three runs in six innings of work in his latest loss, a 6-1 verdict to the Padres in San Diego this past Wednesday. He was outstanding his previous time out, though, firing eight shutout frames to best the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium on July 22. The 35-year-old is 4-3 with a solid 3.29 ERA in 10 home starts this season and also owns a 4-3 record in eight lifetime meetings with the Padres, while posting a 4.85 ERA over the course of those games. Kuroda was outdueled by Clayton Richard in Wednesday's showdown at Petco Park, and the young left-hander will be aiming to duplicate that effort in tonight's rematch. The 26-year-old held Los Angeles' sputtering offense to one run and four hits while striking out six over six sharp innings to improve his season record to 8-5. Richard, who's won four of his last five decisions, also beat Los Angeles with seven shutout innings of one-hit ball last September and is 2-0 with a 2.60 ERA in three overall starts in this series. This will be his first time pitching at Dodger Stadium, however. In nine assignments on the road thus far in 2010, Richard is 3-2 with a 3.79 ERA. San Francisco's sweep of the Dodgers also shortened San Diego's lead atop the NL West after the Padres dropped two of three at home to Florida this past weekend. The hard-charging Giants are now just 1 1/2 games behind the Friars for first place. San Diego kept the Giants from gaining any further ground, however, by coming through with a 5-4 victory in Sunday's finale with the Marlins. The Padres battered Cy Young Award candidate Josh Johnson for five runs in 5 2/3 innings to prevail, with Jerry Hairston Jr.'s two-run double in the bottom of the sixth snapping a 3-3 tie. "I give them credit, but I didn't make my pitches today," said Johnson afterward. "I didn't make my pitches and I let them stay in there, that will hurt you all the time." Yorvit Torrealba also had a two-run double and finished 3-for-4 for San Diego, while starting pitcher Jon Garland (10-7) allowed three runs and fanned six over the first six innings to earn the win. Three Padre relievers protected the lead the rest of the way, with All-Star closer Heath Bell picking up his 30th save despite giving up a run in the ninth. San Diego also made a couple of moves to boost their offense before the deadline, acquiring infielder Miguel Tejada from Baltimore and outfielder Ryan Ludwick from St. Louis in a pair of trades. Ludwick came up with a key pinch- hit single during the Padres' three-run sixth in Sunday's win and wound up scoring on Hairston's go-ahead double. Tejada has yet to make an impact, however, as the former American League MVP went just 1-for-10 during the Florida series. San Diego took two of three games from Los Angeles when the teams met at Petco Park last week, but the Dodgers have won five of the eight matchups between the divisional foes so far this year. The clubs split a two-game set at Dodger Stadium from May 19-20.
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Football Betting: Defensive Rookie of the Year AwardsOddsmakers have released the odds for the 2009 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award and Seattle Seahawks linebacker Aaron Curry has been made the opening favorite. Seattle took Curry with the fourth overall pick in April's NFL draft and plan on inserting him into its starting lineup right away. The Hawks traded linebacker Julian Peterson in the offseason, so Curry is expected to have a significant role in Seattle's defense next year and that's one of the primary reasons he is the favorite to win the NFL ROY Award. Oddsmakers from online sportsbook MySportsbook.com have made Curry a 5/1 favorite to win this year's NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. Given that he was the best defensive prospect in this year's draft and how he'll have plenty of opportunities to make plays in '09, Curry offers a ton of value at 5/1. Another thing working for Curry is the position he plays. A linebacker has won the defensive ROY award six straight times and eight of the last nine years. Jerod Mayo, Patrick Willis, DeMeco Ryans, Shawne Merriman, Jonathan Vilma, Terrell Suggs, Kendrell Bell and Brian Urlacher were the most recent linebackers to take home the award. Following Curry at 5/1 are Tyson Jackson (Chiefs) at 7/1, James Laurinaitas (Rams) at 8/1, Brian Orakpo (Redskins) at 10/1, Rey Maualuga (Bengals) at 10/1 and Jerry Peria (Falcons) at 10/1. All the players mentioned above are expected to start for their respective teams, but Jackson and Peria are going to have a tough time being recognized on a national level given they're both defensive linemen. D-linemen rarely put up the numbers that it takes to win an individual award like the ROY. A couple of players with some value are Clay Matthews (Packers) at 12/1 and Larry English (Chargers) at 15/1. Matthews is expected to start at outside linebacker in Green Bay's new 3-4 defense and could rack up a ton of tackles. English, who was an impressive player at Northern Illinois, is expected to be a situational pass rusher for the Chargers and could rack up a ton of sacks. For complete odds on the 2009 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award, see below. And for complete odds for the 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award, click the link provided. 2009 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award Robert Ayers (DEN) 12/1 Ron Brace (NE) 25/1 Everette Brown (CAR) 16/1 Darius Butler (NE) 40/1 Patrick Chung (NE) 30/1 Aaron Curry (SEA) 5/1 Brian Cushing (HOU) 12/1 Vontae Davis (MIA) 30/1 Louis Delmas (DET) 30/1 Larry English (SD) 15/1 Evander Hood (PIT) 25/1 Tyson Jackson (KC) 7/1 Malcolm Jenkins (NO) 25/1 Paul Kruger (BAL) 50/1 James Laurinaitas (STL) 8/1 Sen'Derrick Marks (TEN) 20/1 Clay Matthews (GB) 12/1 Aaron Maybin (BUF) 15/1 Rey Maualuga (CIN) 10/1 Roy Miller (TB) 20/1 Michael Mitchell (OAK) 45/1 Fili Moala (IND) 30/1 Brian Orakpo (WAS) 10/1 Jerry Peria (ATL) 10/1 B J Raji (GB) 7/1 Clint Sintim (NYG) 35/1 Alphonso Smith (DEN) 40/1 David Verkune (CLE) 20/1 Jason Williams (DAL) 30/1 Field (Any Other Player) 6/1 To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. MySportsbook.com: NBA Championship Odds With the playoffs about two months away, the top two teams in the Western Conference are the clear cut leaders to win the NBA Championship. The Dallas Mavericks have the best record in the NBA (44-9) and have been absolutely scorching since the second week of the season. What makes the Mavs’ record more impressive is the fact that they dropped their first four games of the season. Currently they have won 17 out of their last 18 and are MySportsbook.com’s favorite (2-1) to win it all. Right behind the Mavs are the Pacific leading Phoenix Suns (39-13). Last season, the Suns lost in the Conference Finals to non-other then the Mavericks four games to two. Of course the Suns were without center Amare Stoudemire who has is averaging 19.9 PPG and 9.5 RPG since coming back from his knee injury. Unlike the Mavs, the Suns have struggled a bit lately having lost their last three and four out of their last seven. Of course the main reason for their three straight loses is due to the absence of two time MVP Steve Nash, who is out with a shoulder injury. Heads-up, the Mavs have beaten the Suns in both of their meetings this season. In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons (32-19) are the favorites to win it all at 6-1. The addition of Chris Webber seems to have been a good move for the Pistons. Since coming over from the 76ers, Webber has averaged 13.1 PPG and 7.3 RPG and the Pistons are 11-4. Even though the defending champion Heat are currently on the playoff making cusp, they are the Eastern Conference team that is getting the most action to win it all (9-1). The fact that Shaquille O’Neal is back in the starting lineup after missing 39 games probably has something to do with this. No doubt, Shaq makes a difference when in the lineup as their winning six out of their last seven would indicate. Just because it is the All-Star break doesn’t mean that you can’t bet on NBA hoops this weekend. Be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com to bet on who you think will cut down the nets this July. Also, be sure to check out all of the lines and props for All-Star weekend. With the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry, there are plenty of ways to cash in on the NBA this weekend. MySportsbook.com’s NBA Championship odds: Atlanta Hawks 1000-1 Boston Celtics 5000-1 Charlotte Bobcats 5000-1 Chicago Bulls 20-1 Cleveland Cavaliers 20-1 Dallas Mavericks 2-1 Denver Nuggets 25-1 Detroit Pistons 6-1 Golden State Warriors 250-1 Houston Rockets 12-1 Indiana Pacers 60-1 Los Angeles Clippers 45-1 Memphis Grizzlies 5000-1 Miami Heat 9-1 Milwaukee Bucks 1000-1 Minnesota T-Wolves 200-1 New Jersey Nets 50-1 New Orleans Hornets 150-1 New York Knicks 150-1 Orlando Magic 75-1 Philadelphia 76ers 1000-1 Phoenix Suns 5-2 Portland TrailBlazers 1000-1 Sacramento Kings 250-1 San Antonio Spurs 9-1 Seattle Sonics 5000-1 Toronto Raptors 35-1 Utah Jazz 20-1 Washington Wizards 25-1 About MySportsbook.com:
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