Cubs hold on to edge Braves

Baseball Betting Lines

08/21/2010 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tom Gorzelanny turned in seven strong innings and Aramis Ramirez finished 3-for-4 with two RBI, as Chicago escaped with a 5-4 victory over Atlanta in the middle contest of a three-game set from Wrigley Field.

Gorzelanny (7-7) scattered seven hits and one run, fanning nine with two walks to get the win for Chicago, which snapped an eight-game home losing streak. The north siders hadn't won in the Friendly Confines since August 4 against Milwaukee.

Tyler Colvin also drove in two runs for the Cubs, who snapped a five-game losing skid but nearly wasted a 5-0 lead in the effort. Carlos Marmol, who blew a one-run ninth-inning lead in a 5-3 loss on Friday, recovered to post a scoreless final frame for his 22nd save.

Brooks Conrad had a pinch-hit three-run double for the Braves, who had won five of six coming in.

Tommy Hanson (8-9) yielded seven hits and five runs -- four earned -- over five full frames in defeat.

Atlanta's lead shrunk to two games over Philadelphia in the NL East, with the Phillies playing the Nationals on Saturday.

Atlanta climbed within 5-4 in the eighth. Andrew Cashner subbed for Gorzelanny but loaded the bases on two walks and a single. Sean Marshall came on to fan pinch-hitter Melky Cabrera but Conrad launched a bases-clearing pinch-hit double into the ivy in center.

Omar Infante drew a free pass and Jason Heyward was hit on the hand to load the bases before Martin Prado grounded out to short to end the threat.

In the ninth, Marmol issued a leadoff walk to former Cub Derrek Lee but retired the next three batters to end the contest.

Chicago jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first as Ramirez and Colvin registered back-to-back RBI singles.

The Cubs tacked on three more in the third. Ramirez singled home Starlin Castro, who walked to start the frame, then Colvin followed with a base hit and Blake DeWitt added a two-out RBI single.

Alex Gonzalez hit a run-scoring double to get the Braves on the board in the sixth.

Game Notes

Gorzelanny hadn't won since July 24, going 0-2 with two no-decisions since then...The Braves have won three of the five games in the season series...It was Chicago's first home win over Atlanta since July 6, 2009...Hanson hasn't won since July 3 at Florida, going 0-4 with five no-decisions in that span. It was also the first time since July 16 he failed to last longer than five innings in a start.

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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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MySportsbook.com favors Bears, Bengals, Chargers and Colts to remain perfect

LAS VEGAS , Sept. 28 - Two big match-ups of undefeated teams have fans salivating at the Week Four schedule in the NFL. The Chicago Bears stifling defense looks to provide a less than hospitable welcome to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in a battle of two 3-0 teams in the NFC conference. In the AFC, the San Diego Chargers (2-0) head to Maryland to face the surprising Baltimore Ravens (3-0) as both try to keep pace atop the conference standings. Betting Lines makers at MySportsbook.com, online sportsbook and casino, have set the Bears as 3.5 point favorites while the Chargers are a 2.5 point bet.

Of the three remaining undefeated teams, only one, New Orleans, enters this week's game as an underdog. Despite an emotional and resounding win over Atlanta on Monday night, the Saints are a 7.5 point underdog against the struggling Carolina Panthers. Indianapolis looks to stay perfect when they face the New York Jets as a 9 point road favorite while the Cincinnati Bengals are a 6 point favorite at home to the New England Patriots.

Six teams enter the week still looking for their first win, with a seventh, Tampa Bay, on a bye week. The prospect of dropping another game would not bode well for a potential playoff run. Since 1990, just three teams -- the 1992 Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions and 1998 Buffalo Bills -- have overcome losing their first three games of the season to earn a postseason berth. And only the Chargers managed to accomplish the feat after starting 0-4.

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