Brewers head to Arizona for final leg of trip
Baseball Betting Lines
05/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers should feel more confident about the next opponent on their 10-game road trip, as they try and continue their recent success against the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight at Chase Field.
Milwaukee, which is 3-4 so far on the swing, has won four straight meetings against the D'Backs, including a three-game sweep in Phoenix from September 11-13 of last season. The Brewers are 15-6 in their last 21 encounters with Arizona, going 7-3 in The Valley of the Sun over that time.
The Brewers were aiming for a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers Thursday at Chavez Ravine, but dropped a 7-3 decision after reliever LaTroy Hawkins surrendered a game-winning grand slam to Andre Ethier in the bottom of the ninth inning. Hawkins fell to 0-3 this season and starter Dave Bush gave up three runs -- one earned -- and four hits in five innings.
"[Hawkins] threw me a fastball right down the middle," Ethier said. "I just put an easy swing on it and it just kept going,"
Gregg Zaun had two hits and two RBI and Craig Counsell drove in a run for the Brewers, who hope that starter Yovani Gallardo can win his fourth straight start when he takes the hill Friday. Gallardo opened the season 0-2 with a 5.50 ERA in his first three starts, but is 3-0 with a 0.50 earned run average in his past three outings.
He got the streak going with five shutout innings in a win at Pittsburgh on April 21, then gave up just two unearned runs through six frames versus the Pirates five days later. Gallardo then won at San Diego on Saturday, when he held the Padres to a run over seven innings.
The right-hander will try to stay unbeaten against Arizona and is 2-0 in two starts versus the Diamondbacks, having thrown 12 shutout innings over that span.
Arizona is back at home after going 5-5 on a 10-game road trip. It just won three of four games at Houston and recorded a 6-3 victory last night behind Dan Haren's 10th career complete game. Haren went the distance for the first time this season and limited the Astros to three runs -- two earned -- and seven hits with nine strikeouts.
"The team needed it," Haren said on the Diamondbacks' site. "I needed it."
Tony Abreu finished with a career-best four hits and knocked in a run, while Kelly Johnson homered for the 10th time this season for the D'Backs, who will also welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers for three games on the homestand.
Edwin Jackson's first season in Arizona hasn't gone as planned, and he'll try to bounce back from two rough outings tonight. After throwing six shutout innings in a no-decision at San Diego on April 16, Jackson has gone 0-2 with a 13.82 earned run average in his last three outings.
Jackson has dropped two starts in a row and was reached for eight runs and 11 hits in four innings of a 10-5 loss at the Cubs on Sunday. The right-hander has given up 18 total runs and 22 hits in his last two trips to the hill.
Jackson has faced Milwaukee just once in his career, allowing one run in five innings of a 5-2 victory on June 2, 2004.
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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.