Weeks leads Brewers' ninth-inning comeback over Cubs

Baseball Betting Lines

04/10/2009 - Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rickie Weeks doubled home the tying run in the ninth, took third on a ball in the dirt and scored the winning run on an infield hit with a head-first slide just ahead of the tag to give Milwaukee a thrilling 4-3 win against the Chicago Cubs in the Brewers' home opener from Miller Park.

Carlos Villanueva (1-0) set down Chicago in order in the ninth and Kevin Gregg (0-1) returned to pitch the bottom half after being called upon to close out the eighth. Jason Kendall was retired on a ground out but Chris Duffy, who was part of a double switch in the top part of the inning, drew a walk. Weeks turned on a low, 2-1 fastball for a double that sailed over the head of Alfonso Soriano in left and one-hopped against the wall.

Duffy scored to tie the game and the heads-up Weeks took third when Gregg bounced a ball in the dirt to Corey Hart, who went on to walk. Ryan Braun sent a dribbler to short and Weeks broke for home. Ryan Theriot rushed the throw and bounced it just in front of Koyie Hill and Weeks beat the tag to send the 45,455 fans, the second-largest crowd in franchise history, into a frenzy.

Braun knocked in two of Milwaukee's four runs while Hart homered and walked twice. Weeks scored twice and also robbed Aramis Ramirez of a base-hit with two men on in the seventh while down a run.

Braden Looper, who signed a one-year deal with the club shortly before spring training, was charged with one run on five hits with four walks and as many strikeouts in lasting five frames for Milwaukee, which started the year with losses in two of its first three games in San Francisco.

Hill, starting for 2008 NL Rookie of the Year Geovany Soto, hit a two-run homer and Milton Bradley added a solo shot for Chicago, which entered this series on the heels of taking two of three games from the Houston Astros.

Soto is day-to-day with inflammation in his right shoulder.

Rich Harden, looking to build off a dominant NL run in 2008 after joining Chicago midseason in a trade with Oakland, made his 2009 debut and baffled the Brewers through six innings, striking out 10 and walking two while giving up two runs -- one earned -- on just three hits.

Harden was 5-1 with a stellar 1.77 earned run average in 12 regular-season starts last season after joining the Cubs.

The Brew Crew manufactured a run in the first as Weeks took second on an error by Theriot leading off, and Hart moved the runner with a sacrifice. Braun followed with a run-scoring single through the left side.

Hart clubbed a home run deep to right-center with two out in the third, adding a run to the lead, but Bradley put the Cubs on the board, leading off the fourth with a blast to almost the same place.

Looper was lifted to start the sixth and reliever Seth McClung was stung by a two-out, two-run homer by Hill, following a Theriot single to give Chicago the 3-2 lead.

The Cubs looked to add runs in the seventh when Kosuke Fukudome doubled to left with one out, and Bradley walked with two away, but Weeks snagged a hard hit ball up the middle off the bat of Ramirez to end the inning.

Chicago went with a combination of three relievers in the home half and escaped a bases-loaded jam. Aaron Heilman started and walked Bill Hall, who moved up on a Kendall sacrifice. Neal Cotts entered to face pinch-hitter Craig Counsell but made it first and second with a hit-by-pitch, and Carlos Marmol was called into service. Weeks lined out for the second out but Hart worked a walk to load the bases. Marmol, though, recovered to retire Braun on a weak pop-up to right.

The Cubs put a runner on third with one out in the eighth. Mike Fontenot doubled off Todd Coffey and moved up on a Theriot grounder. Coffey then plunked Hill to make it first and third, which perfectly set up pinch-hitter Aaron Miles' tailor-made double-play ball to end the inning.

Lou Pinella tapped the pen again in the eighth in an attempt to get to the team's closer in Gregg. Sean Marshall walked Prince Fielder to start the frame and Luis Vizcaino was brought on to face J.J. Hardy. Hardy lined out and Mike Cameron hit a chopper back to the mound, moving the runner to second. Gregg entered to fan Hall and strand the tying run in scoring position for a second straight inning.

Game Notes

Chicago won nine of its 16 meetings with the Brewers last season, including five of the seven matchups held in Milwaukee...Milwaukee has a five-game win streak and is 7-2 in home openers at Miller Park since the its opening in 2001...Theriot and Fukudome had two hits each for Chicago...Despite the comeback, Milwaukee left 10 on base and was 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position...The Cubs left nine stranded and was 0-for-7 with RISP.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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