Phils eye first place in doubleheader with Marlins

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09/06/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Even when Roy Oswalt is off his game, he is still pretty darn good. The Philadelphia Phillies pitcher might get a chance tonight to put his team back into sole possession of first place in the National League East.

Set to pitch the back end of today's day/night doubleheader versus the Florida Marlins, Oswalt will try to win his fifth consecutive decision as Philadelphia kicks off a four-game set against Florida at Citizens Bank Park.

Oswalt was acquired from the Astros prior to the non-waiver trade deadline to boost a starting rotation that already features Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels. The Phillies, who enter this set one game back of first-place Atlanta, hoped the acquisition of the three-time All-Star would help guide the club to a fourth straight NL East title and third straight NL pennant.

Philadelphia hasn't been in sole possession of first place since May 30, a position it hopes to hold after tonight if it can sweep this doubleheader and the Braves lose at Pittsburgh.

Though Oswalt was roughed up for a loss in his Phillies debut in late July, he is 4-0 with a 1.30 earned run average in six starts since and is coming off a victory over the Dodgers on Wednesday. The 33-year-old held Los Angeles to just a hit over 6 1/3 innings, but did walk six while striking out the same number.

"I was a little wild and had no command of my fastball," Oswalt said after that game. When I got in trouble I went with the breaking ball. That's the advantage of having four pitches -- when one isn't working you can go to another one. I was able to put enough movement on the ball to keep them off- balance."

The right-hander, who has allowed just one run over his last 21 1/3 innings, is 10-13 with a 3.01 ERA in 27 combined starts in 2010 and 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA in his three starts at Citizens Bank Park this season.

Oswalt did face the Marlins in a Phillies uniform on Aug. 5 and got a no- decision after yielding two runs over 6 1/3 innings. He is 6-4 with a 3.66 ERA in 13 career starts against Florida.

Florida will counter Oswalt with Anibal Sanchez, who has also pitched well as of late. The right-hander is 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA over his last three starts and after consecutive victories, is coming off a no-decision versus Washington on Tuesday despite seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball. Sanchez also struck out seven to just one walk.

The 26-year-old is 11-8 with a 3.14 ERA this year, matching a career high for wins, and 1-2 with a 4.76 ERA in three starts versus the Phillies in 2010. Sanchez gave up five runs over six innings in his last outing at Philadelphia, getting a loss on April 16.

Today's doubleheader was made necessary when the middle contest of a slated three-game set in Philadelphia on June 9 was postponed. The first meeting between the two teams today is expected to feature a pair of pitchers making their first major league starts.

Going for Florida is Adalberto Mendez, who is making his MLB debut after pitching in the minors since 2003. The 28-year-old went 0-1 with a 3.14 ERA in 12 relief outings this year with Double-A Jacksonville before moving up a level to New Orleans, where Mendez went 5-4 with a 4.14 ERA in 28 games, including nine starts.

"He's a power pitcher, who can throw between 93 and 95 [mph]," Marlins interim manager Edwin Rodriguez told Florida's website of the righty he managed in the minors. "He's got an average changeup and slider."

Though Vance Worley is expected to make his first start in the day game for the Phillies, the third-round pick in 2008 did get his first taste of the majors back on July 24, striking out two over a perfect inning of relief versus Colorado.

The 22-year-old righty went 9-4 with a 3.20 ERA in 19 starts with Double-A Reading this year and 1-3 with a 3.77 ERA in eight starts at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Worley will try to help the Phillies get back in the win column after they failed to notch a three-game sweep of the Brewers on Sunday, falling 6-2 to snap a five-game winning streak.

Carlos Ruiz drove in both Philadelphia runs with a double in the second inning and Kyle Kendrick allowed five runs over just four innings as the Phils suffered just their second loss in 10 games. They now lead the NL Wild Card race by just two games over San Francisco after the Giants defeated Los Angeles last night.

The Marlins kept the Phillies' deficit for first place in the NL East at one after knocking off the Braves, 7-6, in 10 innings on Sunday to take two of three in the series.

Emilio Bonifacio led off the 10th inning with a triple, but a foul ball during his at-bat struck teammate Logan Morrison in the left cheek. Morrison was 3- for-4 with a pair of doubles, a triple, an RBI and two runs scored, but was unable to bat. Instead, Scott Cousins' drove in Bonifacio for the winning run with a single, the first hit of his big league career, for Florida's fourth victory in five games.

"I don't think I had time to really put pressure on myself," Cousins said. "I don't know if anyone really expected much out of me in that situation, but I did and hopefully the rest of the team did, and fortunately I was able to get the job done."

Hanley Ramirez clubbed a two-run homer and drove in three runs. The Florida shortstop is batting a scorching .512 (22-for-43) with four homers and 12 RBI over a 12-game hitting streak and is a career .400 hitter (10- for-25) off Oswalt with a pair of homers and five RBI.

The Phillies notched a three-game sweep in Miami the last time these clubs met and own a 7-4 edge in the season series.

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Online Sportsbook Football Betting

Colts give the ‘D’ its due

The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.

They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.

"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."

Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.

New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.

Not so sound on the ground

If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com

“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.

Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.

Brees says bring it on

Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.

Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.

Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.

"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."

SportsBooks ready for a shootout

Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.

“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”

New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.

The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.

“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

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