Marlins aim for series win vs. Nationals

Baseball Betting Lines

07/18/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marlins right-hander Alex Sanabia makes his fifth trip to a major-league mound today, seeking to lift Florida to a series win in the finale of a three-game set with the visiting Washington Nationals at Sun Life Stadium.

Florida's Ronny Paulino hit a two-run single in the bottom of the second inning as the Marlins posted a 2-0 victory in Saturday's second game.

Starter Josh Johnson (10-3) gave up seven hits and struck out seven over six innings. The right-hander lowered his earned run average to an MLB-best 1.62 while improving to 7-0 lifetime in 14 career games (13 starts) against the Nationals.

Paulino's single was among the four hits yielded by former Marlins ace Livan Hernandez (6-6) in his six innings of work.

Nyjer Morgan and Roger Bernadina started the game with back-to-back singles off Johnson. But the All-Star retired the next three batters to escape the first-inning jam.

Sanabia, who'll turn 22 in September, was a 32nd-round draft choice of the Marlins in 2006. He reached the majors in a relief role on June 24 at Baltimore, where he allowed five hits and two runs in a 3 1/3-inning stint.

He followed that up with two more relief outings on June 30 and July 6, then started for the first time on July 11, when the Marlins visited the Arizona Diamondbacks.

He allowed five hits in 3 1/3 scoreless innings, walking one batter and striking out two in a game Florida won, 2-0.

Overall, in 11 2/3 big-league innings, Sanabia allowed 15 hits and five runs while walking two and striking out 12.

For Washington, second-year righty Craig Stammen faces the Marlins for the third time in 2010.

The 26-year-old is winless in four career starts against Florida in two seasons, including a 7-1 loss on May 1 in Miami and a no-decision six days later in a game Florida also won, 4-2.

In those two starts, Stammen gave up 11 hits and four earned runs in 10 2/3 innings.

He's won just twice in 15 starts overall, with the most recent success coming June 29 at Atlanta.

The Nationals are 5-10 in games he's pitched.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The 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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