Cardinals to begin critical road trip with clash vs. Brewers

Baseball Betting Lines

09/06/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off a much-needed series win, the playoff-hopeful St. Louis Cardinals know they still have a lot of work to do.

St. Louis continues that uphill battle this afternoon with the opener of a three-game series at Miller Park against a Milwaukee Brewers club that has given it some trouble this year.

The Cardinals went into a three-game weekend series with first-place Cincinnati on a five-game losing streak and eight games back of the top spot in the National League Central. The Cardinals did not fall any further behind after taking two of three in the set, with Sunday's 4-2 victory shaving a game off that deficit and pulling St. Louis to within 5 1/2 games of the NL Wild Card spot as well.

Matt Holliday blasted a three-run homer in the sixth inning for St. Louis and Chris Carpenter gave up just two runs over 7 1/3 innings while striking out a season-high 11 batters.

"When you can locate pitches, especially your fastball on both sides of the plate it makes your off-speed pitches that much better," Carpenter said. "If you locate those when you're ahead in the count, you're going to get strikeouts."

Jake Westbrook draws the starting assignment for the Cardinals as he faces the Brewers for the first time since June 17, 2006. Making his first-ever appearance against the club, the then-Indians hurler got a no-decision despite giving up just one unearned run over eight innings of work.

Westbrook picked up his first win with the Cardinals on Aug. 13 after getting dealt to the club from Cleveland, but has lost three straight starts since. He gave up three runs on nine hits over seven innings of a 3-0 setback in Houston on Monday, falling to 1-3 with a 4.03 earned run average in six starts with St. Louis and 7-10 with a 4.51 ERA in 27 starts total.

The Cardinals hope that a fresh face can get them on track versus the Brewers, who have won five of the last seven meetings between the teams to even the season series at six games apiece.

Today's starter for the Brewers, Yovani Gallardo, has never beaten the Cardinals, however, having gone 0-4 with a 6.32 ERA in six lifetime outings. He gave up six runs -- one earned -- over 2 2/3 innings the last time he faced St. Louis, back on July 4.

Gallardo left that outing early due to a side injury and did not pitch again until July 22, missing out on a chance to pitch in the All-Star Game. The 24- year-old righty has not been the same since that injury, as he is 3-3 with a 7.23 ERA in eight starts after notching a 2.58 ERA in 18 games prior to the ailment.

Gallardo has lost consecutive starts and has posted a 9.97 ERA over his last four outings. He lasted just five innings in Cincinnati on Tuesday, yielding eight runs on nine hits and three walks.

"There's not much I can do about it right now. There's still September," he told Milwaukee's website after falling to 11-7 with a 3.86 ERA on the season.

The Brewers halted a five-game losing streak with Sunday's 6-2 victory over the Phillies. Prince Fielder hit a three-run homer in the first inning to become the second player in club history to notch four straight 30-homer seasons. The other was Jeromy Burnitz from 1998-2001.

Rickie Weeks added three hits, scored once and drove in a run for the Brewers, who got 6 2/3 innings of two-run ball from Randy Wolf.

"It's nice to at least go home on a positive note," Brewers manager Ken Macha said.

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Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Odds

Will he or won't he?  Now that the Dallas Cowboys have a new head coach in Wade Phillips, the big question will be: Does Terrell Owens stay with the team.

Jerry Jones continues to suggest that Terrell Owens will remain with the team.

"I've said that he's back, he's here, he's under contract," Jones said. "In the interviews I've just been through (to hire a new coach), it was very clear to me how highly he's thought of and how much of an impact he had on our offensive success."

Just to be sure though, Terrell Owens cleared out his locker and removed his name plate.

Terrell Owens was among the Cowboys most productive players this past season, catching 85 passes for 1,180 yards and a league-best 13 touchdowns.

But T.O. is due a $3 million roster bonus in June, then a $5 million salary this season. Cutting him before then would save a lot of money and headaches.

Aside from the questions surrounding Terrell Owens, the oddsmakers at MySportsbook.com have concerns over starting quarterback Tony Romo's state of mind and whether he will remain a starting quarterback.  It is also not known how players will adjust to new head coach, Wade Phillips.

Here are the football odds as seen at MySportsbook.com and subject to change after February 10, 2007 if not locked in prior to that date.
Arizona Cardinals 60-1


Atlanta Falcons 50-1


Baltimore Ravens 15-1


Buffalo Bills 50-1


Carolina Panthers 18-1


Chicago Bears 10-1


Cincinnati Bengals 15-1


Cleveland Browns 100-1


Dallas Cowboys 15-1


Denver Broncos 15-1


Detroit Lions 100-1


Green Bay Packers 50-1


Houston Texans 100-1


Indianapolis Colts 6-1


Jacksonville Jaguars 30-1


Kansas City Chiefs 30-1


Miami Dolphins 40-1


Minnesota Vikings 75-1


New England Patriots 10-1


New Orleans Saints 18-1


New York Giants 20-1


New York Jets 30-1


Oakland Raiders 100-1


Philadelphia Eagles 18-1


Pittsburgh Steelers 10-1


Saint Louis Rams 60-1


San Diego Chargers 6-1


San Francisco 49ers 75-1


Seattle Seahawks 20-1


Tampa Bay Buccanneers 75-1


Tennessee Titans 40-1


Washington Redskins 50-1

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