Votto, Reds increase NL Central lead with win over Brewers

Baseball Betting Lines

08/31/2010 - Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joey Votto doubled twice and drove in three runs, as the National League Central-leading Cincinnati Reds handled the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-4, in the second of a three-game set at Great American Ball Park.

Jonny Gomes hit a two-run homer and Scott Rolen contributed a pair of doubles and two RBI for Cincinnati, which has won three straight and five of its last six overall. The Reds increased their lead to seven games ahead of second- place St. Louis after the Cardinals lost to Houston on Tuesday.

Sam LeCure (2-4) earned the win for allowing only one hit and a walk over two innings of relief work. Reds starter Aaron Harang, who was reinstated from the 15-day disabled list prior to the game, yielded three runs -- one earned -- on eight hits with three walks and two strikeouts in four-plus innings. The right-hander had been out of the rotation since July 1 with lower back spasms.

Reds Pitching phenom Aroldis Chapman, who was promoted from Triple-A Louisville earlier on Tuesday, made his big league debut in the eighth and retired the side in order. The left-hander topped out at 102 m.p.h. on the radar gun.

Fielder's bloop single in the top of the first plated Corey Hart, who singled and moved to second on a groundout to give the Brewers the early lead.

In the bottom half, Drew Stubbs drew a leadoff walk and Chris Valaika singled. Votto then laced a double down the right-field line that scored both to put Cincinnati in front, 2-1.

Milwaukee stranded a pair of runners in the second, and Hart bounced into a 5-4-3 double play with the bases loaded and one out in the fourth to squelch another threat.

Rolen led off the home half with a double, and Gomes followed with a two-run shot to right for a 4-1 game.

The Brewers got two back in the fifth to cut the deficit to one. Harang permitted the first two hitters to reach via a single and walk, ending his outing. LeCure came in and retired the first batter, but gave up a single to Chris Dickerson that scored both runners with the aid of an error by the left fielder Gomes.

Votto's bloop run-scoring double to right in the home fifth made it 5-3, and the hosts broke it open with three more in the sixth. Paul Janish roped an RBI double to left and later in the inning, with the bases loaded, Rolen brought in two more with a double to center to build the hosts' lead to 8-3.

Chapman entered in the eighth and threw a perfect inning. Weeks' solo homer off Logan Ondrusek in the ninth accounted for the 8-4 final score.

Game Notes

Cincinnati made several roster moves before the game. In addition to reinstating Harang from the DL and recalling Chapman, the club also placed outfielder Laynce Nix on the 15-day DL with a left ankle sprain and optioned right-hander Edinson Volquez to Single-A Dayton...Reds outfielder Jay Bruce was a late scratch due to pain in his right side...The Reds have now won six of seven versus the Brewers this year, including a two-game sweep at home on May 17-18 in the only previous meeting at Cincinnati in 2010.

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Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game

How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.

A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.

Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.

The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).

Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.

The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).

Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.

Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.