Bruce's three-homer, five-RBI night leads Reds past Cubs

Baseball Betting Lines

08/27/2010 - Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jay Bruce slammed a career-best three home runs and Chris Valaika also homered to back eight innings of one-run ball from Johnny Cueto as Cincinnati crushed Chicago, 7-1, to open a three-game set at Great American Ball Park.

Bruce tied a career-high with five runs batted in during his eighth career multi-homer game while Drew Stubbs added two hits, a run scored, two stolen bases and a walk for the Reds, who have won two straight and 10 of 13 games overall since being swept by the Cardinals in three games two weeks ago.

Cueto (12-4) allowed six hits, did not walk a batter and fanned eight in helping Cincinnati push its lead over St. Louis in the NL Central to 4 1/2 games. Sam LeCure retired the side in order in the ninth to preserve the Reds' 11th win in 14 meetings with Chicago this season.

Tom Gorzelanny (7-8) was saddled with the loss after allowing a season-high six earned runs on seven hits and a pair of walks with only one strikeout in five innings for the Cubs, who had a three-game win streak halted.

Valaika doubled with one out in the first and scored when Joey Votto followed with a base hit to right field.

Bruce, batting leadoff for the first time in almost two years in the absence of Brandon Phillips, blasted a solo shot to right-center with one out in the third to give the home team a 2-0 lead.

The Cubs plated their lone run in the fourth when Xavier Nady singled with two outs and scored when Tyler Colvin followed with a double to right-center.

Bruce belted his second homer of the night, a three-run clout, to right-center with one out in the fifth to extend the Cincinnati lead to 5-1. Valaika then followed with his first big league longball to left.

The lefty-swinging Bruce connected again on a one-out smash in the seventh off Scott Maine to make it a 7-1 contest.

Game Notes

Phillips, who was hit in the right hand in Wednesday's series finale in San Francisco, does not have any broken bones but will be sidelined for an undetermined amount of time...However, earlier on Friday, the Reds did place pitcher Mike Leake on the 15-day disabled list with shoulder fatigue and recalled third baseman Juan Francisco from Triple-A Louisville...Cueto improved to 3-5 in 10 career meetings with the Cubs...Cincinnati is 59-24 when hitting a home run and 46-12 when scoring first...Chicago had a five-game road win streak snapped...Gorzelanny had allowed only seven home runs this year before being roughed up for a trio of long balls on Friday night. He is 0-3 in four starts versus the Reds this season and 3-5 in 10 career turns against them.

Fozsports Baseball Betting News


<< Wie still three clear in Canada
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michelle Wie posted a three-under 69 Friday to maintain her three-stroke lead after two rounds of the Canadian Women's Open. Wie completed 36 holes at 10-under-par 134. She is looking to pick up her secon

<< Twins acquire P Fuentes from Angels
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins have acquired left-handed reliever Brian Fuentes from the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for cash or a player to be named later. Fuentes was 4-1 with 23 saves and a 3.52 earned run aver

<< Woodland leads by two in Tennessee
Farragut, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gary Woodland fired a seven-under 65 Friday to grab a two-stroke lead after two rounds of the Knoxville Sentinel Open. Woodland, who split time between the Nationwide and PGA Tours this year, completed 3

<< Report: Dodgers put Lilly on waivers
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lefty Ted Lilly is reportedly the latest Dodger to be put on waivers, according to a FOX Sports report. The move can only be viewed as part of a larger plan by general manager Ned Colletti of protect

<< Twins acquire reliever Fuentes from Angels
SEATTLE (AP) -The twins have acquired left-handed reliever Brian Fuentes from the Los Angeles Angels for a player to be named later.Twins manager Ron Gardenhire says the Twins will use the former Angels closer as a set-up reliever for closer Matt Ca

Pelfrey pitches Mets past streaking Astros >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Pelfrey worked eight scoreless frames as the New York Mets took a 2-1 win over the Houston Astros in the opener of a three-game set. Pelfrey (13-7) gave up just six hits and two walks while striking o

Price fires 63 to lead Boeing Classic >>
Snoqualmie, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Price had two scoring bursts Friday en route to a nine-under 63 and the first-round lead of the Boeing Classic. Price, who has already won twice this season, posted his low round of the year. Tom Per

Eagles WR Jackson leaves Friday's game >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson left Friday's preseason game against the Chiefs with an upper back injury in the first quarter and will not return. The third-year wideout was hurt o

Volstad and four homers power Marlins past Braves >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cameron Maybin and Logan Morrison hit back-to- back homers to start the game and Chris Volstad did the rest, as Florida rolled to a 7-1 win and sent the Braves to a four-game losing streak. Volstad (8-9

Lester, Martinez lift Red Sox over Rays >>
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jon Lester allowed two hits over seven strong innings and Victor Martinez hit a pair of home runs as Boston downed Tampa Bay, 3-1, in the opener of a three-game series at Tropicana Field. Jed Lowri

Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards

Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

RSS Sports Betting Odds Feeds

Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.