Cubs' Silva tries to put woes behind him in Arizona

Baseball Betting Lines

07/06/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cubs' offensive struggles have caught up to starter Carlos Silva, but the right-hander has reason to be encouraged given his team's performance on Monday.

Chicago will try to win back-to-back games and help its hurler halt a four- start winless stretch this evening in the second contest of a three-game series versus the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

Silva began the season by winning his first eight decisions, but has gone 0-2 over his last four starts despite a solid 3.04 earned run average. The Cubs have scored two runs or less in three of Silva's last four starts and have lost each outing.

The 31-year-old, who has a 2.96 ERA on the season, faced the Reds on Thursday and pitched a season-high 7 2/3 innings, yielding two runs on 11 hits with six strikeouts. However, despite his 12th quality start of the season, he got a no-decision.

"That wasn't easy," Silva told Chicago's website. "I had to work hard today, every inning. The good thing was I was able to get out of every inning. Unfortunately, we didn't win the game."

Silva is 4-0 with a 3.06 ERA in six road starts in 2010, but 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in seven games -- two starts -- lifetime versus Arizona. He faced them on May 1 at home and yielded three runs on eight hits, including a pair of homers by Mark Reynolds and one by Justin Upton, in a no-decision.

He'll hope his offense can back him today like they were able to do for Tom Gorzelanny on Monday, as Geovany Soto and Starlin Castro drove in two runs each in a 9-4 victory. It was the Cubs' fourth straight victory over the Diamondbacks and they have outscored Arizona 37-19 in that span.

Alfonso Soriano added a pinch-hit, two-run homer to surpass 800 career RBI, while Gorzelanny allowed three runs over five innings.

Soriano and Derrek Lee both did not start Monday's game to rest, while third baseman Aramis Ramirez returned after missing two consecutive games because of an aggravated left thumb injury.

Arizona's Ian Kennedy lost his fourth straight start after allowing seven runs in 5 2/3 innings, while Kelly Johnson drove in two runs in defeat. The club has now dropped three in a row after winning in Kirk Gibson's managerial debut last Friday.

"The most frustrating part is I want these guys to feel the success for the work they put in, but the game just doesn't do that sometimes," Gibson said. "The Cubs hit some balls hard and they hit some that found holes."

Rookie Barry Enright felt nothing but success in his major league debut last Wednesday and he looks to win his second game in as many starts tonight. The 24-year-old faced the Cardinals and held them to a run on four hits and four walks over five innings, fanning five in a 4-2 victory.

"It's a surreal feeling. It was a fun time," Enright said of his debut.

The right-handed 2007 second-round pick out of Pepperdine joined Arizona after going 4-1 with a 2.88 ERA in 14 starts this year with Double-A Mobile.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.