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Cards send Wainwright to hill in CincinnatiBaseball Betting Lines04/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Even after delivering a long-anticipated breakout year, Adam Wainwright found himself overshadowed by the accomplishments of his St. Louis Cardinals teammates last season. The standout pitcher once again has a tough act to follow when he makes his 2010 debut against the Cincinnati Reds this evening at Great American Ball Park. Wainwright led all National League hurlers with 19 victories and 233 innings pitched during a banner 2009 campaign, while also ranking in the top five in earned run average (2.63) and strikeouts (212). The 28-year-old still finished behind fellow rotation member Chris Carpenter in voting for the league's Cy Young Award, with Carpenter losing out to San Francisco's Tim Lincecum by a mere six points for the coveted honor. Of course, both St. Louis pitchers take a back seat to two-time reigning NL MVP Albert Pujols when it comes to the Cardinals, and the superstar first baseman was the star of the show once again on Opening Day. Pujols slugged a pair of homers and finished 4-for-5 with three RBI to lead the defending Central Division champions to an 11-6 victory over the Reds in Monday's opener of this three-game set. "You make a mistake, he's right on it," Reds starter Aaron Harang said of Pujols afterward. "You have to give him a good pitch. He's the best hitter in the game." Pujols wasn't the only St. Louis player swinging the heavy lumber, though. Catcher Yadier Molina belted a ninth-inning grand slam and ended 2-for-4 on the afternoon, while center fielder Colby Rasmus also homered and collected two hits. Carpenter put forth a solid outing as well, yielding two runs on five hits and not issuing a walk over six frames to pick up the win. Both runs allowed came via solo homers from Joey Votto and Scott Rolen in the fourth inning. Harang worked the first five innings for Cincinnati and gave up four runs (3 earned) on five hits, including homers to Pujols and Rasmus, in taking the loss. "Overall, it wasn't my best," Harang told the Reds' official site. "I wish I could have been out there longer." Votto went 3-for-5 and scored twice to lead Cincinnati offensively, with Brandon Phillips contributing a two-run double in defeat. While Wainwright emerged as one of the NL's elite pitchers last season, the Reds are hoping this is the year Johnny Cueto comes through with a breakthrough performance of his own. The young right-hander improved from a 9-14 rookie campaign in 2008 to an 11-11 mark last year, but his 4.41 ERA shows he could use a little more consistency. Cueto was plenty good in three 2009 starts against the Cardinals, though, winning two of those matchups and yielding just three runs over a combined 15 1/3 innings of work. In five career appearances versus St. Louis, the 24-year- old Dominican is 2-2 with a 6.14 ERA. Wainwright only faced the Reds once last year and wound up with a no-decision at Great American Ball Park after permitting four runs over six innings. He's 1-2 with a 4.91 ERA in nine overall meetings with Cincinnati, five of which have come in relief. These two divisional foes split 16 encounters a year ago, with the Reds winning five of the nine games held in Cincinnati.
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Horse Betting(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine). The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late. "You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest. "A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve." When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential: CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped. DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins. PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge. You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike. "You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders." Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of. (By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.) Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout." But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing." Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you." Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front." All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold. In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse. "Now," says Avello, "it's time for action." To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
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