Santana hopes for a little run support in LA

Baseball Betting Lines

07/23/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scoring runs is vital to winning baseball games. The New York Mets must have missed that memo.

The suddenly-dismal club will try to cross the plate a few times tonight in the second portion of a four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chavez Ravine. New York is 1-7 on its 11-game, three-city tour out West and has been shut out three times on the journey. In Thursday's 2-0 loss in the series opener, Hiroki Kuroda held the Mets to five hits over eight shutout innings and Hong-Chih Kuo closed the door in the ninth for his third save.

Mets starter Hisanori Takahashi pitched well, but suffered the loss after giving up both runs and three hits through seven innings. Jeff Francoeur ended with a team-high two hits for New York, which has lost 10 of 12 games overall and is 4-13 in the past 17 road games. It has been held to four runs or less in 13 straight games, going 3-10 in that span, and is 5-13 in July after going 18-8 in June.

"Offensively, we are still struggling. We just can't put things together. At some point we have to turn this thing around," said Mets manager Jerry Manuel.

Manuel might get his wish with ace Johan Santana taking the mound tonight. Santana will try to beat the Dodgers for a second time this season, as he fired six shutout innings and allowed four hits with six strikeouts in a 4-0 victory on April 27 at Citi Field. The two-time AL Cy Young Award winner improved to 3-0 with an even stellar 0.44 earned run average in three career starts against Los Angeles.

Santana is 2-0 with a 0.58 ERA in his previous four starts and did not record a decision the last time out in Sunday's 4-3, 10-inning win at San Francisco. He limited the Giants to a run despite allowing eight hits in eight innings.

The left-hander is 7-5 with a 2.87 ERA in 20 overall starts this season and will try to even his road mark Friday night. Santana is 1-2 in 10 away starts this season.

Los Angeles has won two in a row since a six-game slide and got a big night from Matt Kemp, who homered and drove in both runs to lead the way. The Dodgers are five games behind San Diego for the lead in the National League West Division and have been getting solid pitching the past few games.

"It was a great outing and we certainly needed it," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said of Kuroda's outing. "It was a carbon-copy type of game from last night. Putting wins back to back is the most important thing."

Torre will pin tonight's pitching duties on Vicente Padilla, who will try to run his unbeaten streak to five games. Padilla is 3-0 with a 0.98 earned run average in his last four starts, but did not figure into the decision of a 5-4 loss on Sunday at St. Louis.

Padilla threw six scoreless innings before the bullpen imploded and remained at 4-2 in 10 starts this season. He has enjoyed pitching at Dodger Stadium this year, going 3-1 with a 2.20 earned run average in four starts.

The right-hander from Nicaragua has also experienced success against the Mets as evidenced by his 10-3 mark in 21 career games (12 starts).

New York, which is 7 1/2 games off the pace in the NL East, swept a three-game home series from LA back in late April and has won four of the past six matchups between the teams. The Dodgers won all three meetings with the Mets held at Chavez Ravine last year.

The Mets have lost 10 of 14 games in Hollywood since the 2007 season.

Cbaaportsline Baseball Betting News

<< Duensing set for first start of season as Twins battle Orioles
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- Brian Duensing will have a tough act to follow when the Minnesota Twins pitcher makes his first start of the season in tonight's clash with the Baltimore Orioles from Camden Yards. Minnesota took the opener of this four-g

<< Braves kick off road swing in Florida
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves bring the National League's best record into Florida this evening when they kick off their nine-game road trip with the first of three games against the Marlins at Sun Life Stadium. Atlanta just too

<< NL West-leading Padres resume trip at Pittsburgh
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres have had a rough go of it lately on the road. A trip to Pittsburgh, though, could be just what they need, as the Padres open a three-game series against the Pirates tonight at PNC Park. The Padres, who

<< Cardinals go with winless starter Suppan in Chicago
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Suppan takes another crack at his first win of the season this afternoon when the St. Louis Cardinals open a three-game series with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Suppan has gone 0-3 with a 4.20 earned

<< Roughriders add K/P Johnson
Regina, SK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Saskatchewan Roughriders have added kicker/punter Eddie Johnson to the roster. Johnson appeared in two games for Toronto last season and averaged 46.4 yards on 16 punts. The 29-year-old Idaho

Nationals seek third straight win in opener with Brewers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals hope to build off a very encouraging showing in their most recent series when the club travels to Miller Park tonight to start up a three-game set with the Milwaukee Brewers. Washington enters this

Cabrera-led Tigers continue series with Blue Jays >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miguel Cabrera's primary goal is to help the Detroit Tigers capture an American League Central title. Still, one would think the possibility of becoming baseball's first Triple Crown winner in 43 years has got to cross the Al

Posey and the Giants play second of four with Diamondbacks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trading catcher Bengie Molina to the Texas Rangers could be the best move the San Francisco Giants make all season. Buster Posey is certainly on board with the decision and has been proving it ever since. Posey and the Gia

Beckett returns for BoSox in Seattle >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox could use a boost on their current road trip and will get just that tonight when the ballclub is expected to activate ace Josh Beckett from the disabled list. Beckett hasn't pitched since May 18 at Yanke

Phils start four-game set at home against Rockies >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies seemed confident with Roy Halladay on the mound earlier this season. Lately they've been fortunate to get a win when the former American League Cy Young Award honoree starts. Halladay will get the

Since the late 1990's, MySportsbook.com has been an online sportsbook / poker room / casino that focuses on quality.. MySportsbook caters to the experienced sports fan who values reliability and accuracy, with great attention to detail. MySportsbook's success over the past 3 years has made them the envy of the sports gambling industry. There are hundreds of sites appearing all over the Internet claiming to be the next best sportsbook online, each one is trying to use the same marketing techniques as MySportsbook originated.

If you want to try the most stylish and reliable type of online sportsbook, go with MySportsbook. Most online sportsbooks give you live odds and plenty of games and events to bet on, at MySportsbook they'll give you that and more. While perfection may be a lofty goal, MySportsbook attempts to achieve that goal. All sorts of ways to bet on football, football betting, Super Bowl betting lines.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football sportsbook needs.