Cardinals do talking with sweep, jump Reds for divison lead

Baseball Betting Lines

08/11/2010 - Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colby Rasmus belted a grand slam in support of Adam Wainwright's seven scoreless innings as St. Louis downed Cincinnati, 6-1, to complete a three-game sweep and move into sole possession of first place in the National League Central.

Wainwright (17-6) put together another dominant performance, as he allowed just two hits, did not walk a batter and struck out four for the Cardinals, who lead the season series, 10-5.

Skip Schumaker had three hits and drove in a run and Jon Jay added a pair of hits and a run scored for St. Louis, which has won five of its last six contests to move one game ahead of Cincinnati.

Bronson Arroyo (12-7) lasted five innings, giving up four runs on six hits while walking three and striking out two for the Reds, who were last swept in a three-game series June 18-20 in Seattle.

Wainwright retired the side in order in four different frames and did not allow a runner past second base for a second straight start to match Ubaldo Jimenez for the major league lead in wins. His outing was limited to seven frames by a rain delay that lasted for 46 minutes heading into to the top of the eighth.

The Cardinals loaded the bases with two outs after a walk to Wainwright in the second inning, but couldn't score after Brendan Ryan struck out.

The visitors filled the bases again in the fifth on a Jay double and walks to Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday before Rasmus belted a 3-2 offering from Arroyo over the wall in straightaway centerfield for the Cardinals' second decisive grand slam of the series.

St. Louis then put the game out of reach with a pair of runs in the seventh off Jordan Smith on back-to-back run-scoring singles by Yadier Molina and Schumaker.

Cincinnati finally got on the board in the eighth when Brandon Phillips and Paul Janish singled with two outs to chase Mitchell Boggs from the hill. He was replaced by Trever Miller, who have up a base hit to Joey Votto that scored Phillips and brought Mike MacDougal out of the Cardinals bullpen. Scott Rolen then fouled out to the catcher Molina to end the threat.

Game Notes

The Reds were swept in a four-game set in Philadelphia July 8-11...The Cardinals last swept the Reds in a series September 26-28, 2008...Wainwright evened his career record against Cincinnati at 3-3 with two of the wins coming this season...He is 19-3 against division opponents since the start of 2009... The St. Louis trio of Wainwright, Chris Carpenter and Jaime Garcia allowed a total of nine hits in the series and each won their start as the Redbirds improved to 48-24 in their starts...Pujols lost a 10-game hit streak, but he scored for a tenth consecutive game...Holliday went 1-for-2 and has hit safely in seven straight and 23 out of his last 25...The Cardinals placed veteran right-hand pitcher Jeff Suppan on the 15-day disabled list with a sore groin and purchased the contract of catcher Steven Hill from Double-A Springfield... Arroyo dropped to 7-10 in his career against the Cardinals, including 1-2 this season...UFC star Rich Franklin threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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