Brewers down Pirates to complete sweep

Baseball Betting Lines

08/29/2010 - Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Braun went 4-for-4 with a two-run homer and scored three runs, as the Milwaukee Brewers completed a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with an 8-4 win at Miller Park.

Chris Dickerson chipped in with a two-run single and drove in three for the Brewers, who had dropped four in a row entering the series and finished 13-5 against the Pirates this season.

Dave Bush (7-11) allowed four runs -- three earned -- on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts over seven innings to pick up the win. Trevor Hoffman retired the final two batters to record his eighth save of the season and up his save totals to an all-time major league-best 599.

Neil Walker hit a two-run homer while Ryan Doumit and Delwyn Young added solo shots for Pittsburgh, which has dropped nine of their last 12.

Charlie Morton (1-10), making his first start since May 27th, lasted only 3 1/3 innings in his return from the minors. The right-hander was raked for eight runs -- seven earned -- on nine hits, walked one and struck out two.

Walker's two-run homer just inside the right-field foul pole in the first gave the Pirates a brief early lead.

However, Milwaukee answered with three in the home portion. Consecutive singles and a walk loaded the bases with two outs before Dickerson chased in a pair with a single to right. With runners still on the corners, Morton's errant pickoff throw to first allowed another to score that put the Brewers up, 3-2.

In the Milwaukee third with runners on first and third and one out, Dickerson's groundout brought in a run, and Alcides Escobar and George Kottaras each added an RBI single to give the hosts a 6-2 edge.

Doumit got the Bucs a run closer with homer to right leading off the fourth, but Braun clubbed a two-run shot in the home half to make it 8-3.

Young's homer in the seventh made it an 8-4 game, accounting for the final margin.

Game Notes

Bush improved to 6-5 in 16 career games against the Pirates, while Morton fell to 0-4 in four all-time meetings against Milwaukee...Kottaras finished 3-for-4 with an RBI for the Brewers...Pirates reliever Evan Meek was hit by a line drive in his right wright in the eighth and had to leave the game.

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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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