Cubs try to get back on winning track, visit Dodgers

Baseball Betting Lines

06/05/2008 - ((Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs will try to start up a new streak when the team with the best record in baseball continues a West Coast swing with the first of four straight meetings with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Chicago's nine-game winning run came to an end Wednesday in San Diego, where ex-Cub Greg Maddux helped shut down his old mates in the Padres' 2-1 victory.

Maddux worked the first seven innings and held Chicago's hard-hitting offense to one run and three hits before exiting with the contest tied at 1-1. The Padres moved ahead in the bottom of the eighth, when Brian Giles led off with a double and later scored on Kevin Kouzmanoff's sacrifice fly.

Ted Lilly (5-5) pitched very well in a hard-luck defeat for the Cubs. The left-hander was charged with two runs allowed and struck out eight Padres in his 7 1/3-inning stint.

Chicago's impressive streak began with a three-game sweep of the Dodgers at Wrigley Field from May 26-28. Los Angeles still hasn't recovered from those defeats, as Joe Torre's squad enters this series having dropped eight of its 10 most recent tests.

The Dodgers mustered just three runs in those three matchups with Chicago, and its offense continued to struggle in a recent home series with Colorado. After being shut out by the Rockies on Tuesday, Los Angeles managed only six hits in a 2-1 setback to the defending National League champs in Wednesday's rubber match of a three-game set.

Matt Kemp drove in the Dodgers' lone run with an infield single in the bottom of the sixth against Colorado's Aaron Cook (8-3), who dominated the Los Angeles lineup with eight stellar innings.

Dodgers phenom Clayton Kershaw was touched for a pair of runs in the second inning and lasted just five frames, with the 20-year-old walking four batters and throwing 104 pitches before exiting.

With its offense having major trouble scoring runs, Los Angeles will be counting on another strong start out of Chad Billingsley in tonight's opener. The stocky young right-hander delivered in Saturday's encounter with the Mets, as Billingsley held New York to just four hits over seven shutout innings.

Billingsley did not end up with a win that afternoon, however, as the Mets scored twice in the eighth inning off reliever Jonathan Broxton to tie the game and eventually rallied for a 3-2 decision.

Since April 30, Billingsley has posted a 4-2 record and a stellar 1.80 earned run average in seven starts. The 23-year-old has surrendered one run or less in five of those appearances.

Billingsley was a hard-luck loser to the Cubs on May 26, a game in which he gave up just two runs and fanned seven over six innings. He is 1-1 with a 1.80 ERA in three career games against Chicago, two of which have come in relief.

Ryan Dempster opposed Billingsley in that May 26 encounter and will do so again tonight. The Chicago hurler was the winning pitcher on that night after holding the Dodgers to one run and seven hits over a strong seven innings of work.

Dempster picked up another victory on Saturday, when the converted closer shook off a pair of home runs to defeat Colorado at Wrigley Field. The right- hander did allow three runs in that five-inning appearance, but gave up just three hits and struck out seven to improve his season record to 7-2.

The 31-year-old is 0-2 in four road starts this season despite having pitched to a 2.08 ERA away from the Windy City. Dempster owns a 4-3 career record with six saves and a 2.85 ERA in 18 overall appearances against Los Angeles, eight of which have come as a starter.

The Cubs lost two of three games to Los Angeles in their lone visit to Dodger Stadium last season. However, Chicago is 6-3 at Chavez Ravine since the start of the 2005 campaign.

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It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.

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