Gonzalez continues torrid pace as Rockies down Reds
Baseball Betting Lines
09/07/2010 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Gonzalez, arguably the league's hottest hitter, blasted an early three-run homer to help lift the streaking Colorado Rockies to a 4-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
Gonzalez extended his hit streak to 15 with his 32nd home run, and the Rockies won for the fifth straight game to close to within four games of first-place San Diego, which is currently playing Los Angeles. Gonzalez, who jumped into the Triple Crown race, has 31 hits in his last 59 at-bats with seven homers and 21 RBI.
The former Oakland and Arizona farmhand currently leads the National League with a .340 batting average and 100 RBI, but trails Albert Pujols by three home runs.
Miguel Olivo added three hits and an RBI, while Jhoulys Chacin (8-9) allowed two runs on six hits in six innings to earn the win. Huston Street picked up his 16th save, as the Rockies won for the eighth straight time over Cincinnati at Coors Field.
Drew Stubbs hit a two-run single, while Jonny Gomes homered for the Reds, who have lost four of five but still lead the Cardinals by six games in the NL Central after St. Louis lost to Milwaukee on Tuesday.
Johnny Cueto (12-5) allowed four runs -- three earned -- on seven hits and two walks in six innings to take the loss.
Gonzalez's incredible stretch continued in the opening inning.
Eric Young Jr. and Dexter Fowler opened the game with consecutive singles, and Gonzalez made it count with a three-run blast to left for an early lead.
The Reds didn't get on the board until a mental mistake by the Rockies in the fourth.
With runners on first and second and two outs, Ramon Hernandez hit a ground ball toward the third baseman Melvin Mora. Instead of throwing to first to get the slow runner in Hernandez, Mora attempted to run and tag third, but Joey Votto beat the play. Stubbs followed with his single for a one-run game.
An error by Brandon Phillips helped Colorado increase its lead to 4-2 in the sixth. With two outs and nobody on base, Seth Smith hit a weak ground ball to Phillips, who couldn't handle it. Olivo followed with a line drive in the left-centerfield gap, scoring Smith on the double.
Matt Belisle maintained the Rockies' lead with a scoreless seventh, but Rafael Betancourt allowed a two-out solo homer to Gomes to make it a 4-3 game heading to the ninth.
Street pitched around a two-out single in the ninth to polish off the win.
Game Notes
The Reds' last win at Coors Field came on August 22, 2008...Young Jr. had two hits and a stolen base for Colorado...Both starting pitchers struck out five...Chacin threw 72 of his 107 pitches for strikes...Phillips' error was his first in 63 games since May 17.
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Football Betting
NFL Football Betting OnlineThe 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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