08/19/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Worst visits first tonight at Wrigley Field when a pair of National League Central rivals get together for the first of a three-game series.
The front-running Chicago Cubs - holders of a 5 1/2-game bulge in the six-team loop - look to extend that lead at home against the Cincinnati Reds, who've tumbled from the fringes of contention to the back of the pack since the All- Star break.
Taking the mound for the Cubs will be recent acquisition Rich Harden, who's made six starts since coming over from the American League's Oakland Athletics. He's 2-1 with a 1.80 earned run average in 35 innings with Chicago, allowing 24 hits and seven earned runs with 14 walks and 49 strikeouts.
In his last start, on Wednesday at Atlanta, he allowed two hits over five scoreless innings of an 8-0 Cubs win.
He was 5-1 in 13 starts with a 2.34 ERA for the Athletics before the trade.
Harden won his lone career start against the Reds after giving up six hits and four earned runs in 5 1/3 innings.
For the Reds, rookie right-hander Johnny Cueto can make it two wins in a row.
The 22-year-old Dominican had gone six starts without a win between July 9 and Aug. 8 before rebounding with a 3-1 defeat of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday.
The first start of the winless string came against the Cubs, when Cueto dropped a 5-1 decision after allowing four earned runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings.
He's faced the Cubs twice in 2008, splitting two decisions and giving up a combined 14 hits and seven earned runs in 12 2/3 innings.
On Sunday in Cincinnati, Edinson Volquez hurled seven innings of shutout ball and the Reds salvaged the final contest of a three-game series with a 7-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Volquez (15-5) put together his second consecutive strong start, allowing just three hits and four walks with four strikeouts.
Brandon Phillips hit a three- run homer while Chris Dickerson and Edwin Encarnacion had three-hit games with a run scored each. Jay Bruce added two hits and an RBI for Cincinnati, which won for just the fourth time in their last 16 games.
In Miami, Reed Johnson's three-run double highlighted an eight-run seventh inning, as the Cubs pounded the Florida Marlins, 9-2, in the rubber match of a three-game set from Dolphin Stadium.
Johnson finished 4-for-5 and scored a run for the Cubs, who have won nine of their last 11 games. Aramis Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano each drove in two runs.
Ryan Dempster (14-5) gave up two runs on five hits and struck out 10 batters over six innings to pick up the win. The 31-year-old is one victory shy of tying his career-high set in 2001 with Florida.
Chicago has won five of its nine meetings with the Reds this season.
<< LA tries to beef up division mark vs. Rox
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If the Los Angeles Dodgers have designs on winning the
National League West, they'll probably have to fare better in games within the
division.
Los Angeles will attempt to improve upon its mediocre record against We
<< Royals, Indians start three-game series in Cleveland
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Right-handed reclamation project Anthony Reyes makes his
third start in an American League uniform tonight when the Cleveland Indians
host the Kansas City Royals in the opener of a three-game series at
Progressive Field.
<< Bronx Bombers head north to face Jays
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees are focused on catching the Tampa Bay
Rays and Boston Red Sox in the American League East race. They might want to
turn their attention to the Toronto Blue Jays as well.
Toronto takes aim at a thi
<< Rays, Angels hope to resume key set in wake of storm
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tropical Storm Fay could be the only thing that slows down
the upstart Tampa Bay Rays at this point. Weather permitting, the Rays will
play the second of three matchups with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
tonight
Bengals take another chance on Henry >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Bengals signed troubled wide
receiver Chris Henry on Tuesday.
The Bengals released Henry on April 3 after his fifth arrest since the club
made him their third-round pick in the 2005 NFL Dr
Craft to start at QB for UCLA >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel has decided
to start redshirt junior Kevin Craft at quarterback for the season-opener on
September 1 against Tennessee.
Craft spent two years -- one as a redshirt -- at Sa
D.C. to test improving defense against New England >>
Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United has been impressive in its last
10 matches in Major League Soccer, and will try to build on its recent success
Wednesday against the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium.
United is 7-2-1
Nadal, Ivanovic are top seeds for U.S. Open >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 1s Rafael Nadal of Spain and Ana
Ivanovic of Serbia have been installed as the top seeds at the U.S. Open,
which will commence Monday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis
Center.
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.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting