Hard-charging Phils continue key series with Marlins

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09/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies have been inconsistent on offense all year, and it was never more evident than during Monday's doubleheader versus the Florida Marlins. That still didn't stop the club from pulling within a half-game of first place in the National League East.

The Phillies will try to grab sole possession of first place for the first time since late May as Joe Blanton aims to extend an eight-start unbeaten streak in tonight's third contest of a four-game series versus the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park.

Philadelphia entered Monday's twinbill one game back of the front-running Braves for the NL East's top spot and had the opportunity to move ahead of Atlanta after it lost to the Pirates yesterday.

However, the Phillies were out hit 13-3 in dropping the first game, 7-1, before responding with a 7-4 triumph in the nightcap.

Florida's Adalberto Mendez pitched six shutout innings in his MLB debut in the first game, though he did leave with a strained right quad suffered while running to first in the seventh. However, Philadelphia managed just Jayson Werth's RBI single off the rookie.

Marlins rookie Mike Stanton entered the series in a 3-for-45 slump, but homered in both contests and had four hits in nine at-bats. His solo homer in the second inning of the nightcap was one of three homers allowed by Phils starter Roy Oswalt, who also yielded home-run balls to Hanley Ramirez and Cameron Maybin.

Oswalt, though, still got the win thanks in part to a five-run second inning by his offense.

"The pitches I threw to Hanley and Maybin were just poor pitch selection," Oswalt admitted. "Played right into their hands,"

Chase Utley and Placido Polanco combined to drive in three runs in the second frame, and both ended with a pair of hits and two RBI in game two. Carlos Ruiz got the run started with a bases-loaded walk off Anibal Sanchez.

"The worst of it was a lot of walks, a lot of balls, a lot of being behind in the count," Sanchez said after giving up seven runs over four-plus innings. "That's not good for me."

Philadelphia has now won nine of 12 since a four-game losing streak and pulled within a half-game of Atlanta. A victory tonight coupled with another loss by the Braves would put the Phillies, who also lead the Giants by 1 1/2 games for the NL Wild Card spot, back into sole possession of first place for the first time since May 30.

If the Phillies are to do their part, they will need a better effort out of Blanton than the one he gave last time out.

The righty hasn't lost since July 21, having gone 3-0 in eight starts since, and had notched a 2.81 earned run average over his previous five starts before getting tagged for six runs -- four earned -- on 10 hits, three homers and two walks in just 4 1/3 innings versus Colorado on Thursday. However, his offense rallied for a 12-11 win to take Blanton off the hook.

The 29-year-old is 6-6 with a 5.25 ERA in 23 starts this year and has yet to face Florida in 2010. Lifetime versus the Marlins, he is 4-2 with a 3.44 ERA.

The Marlins, who had won four of five prior to Monday's doubleheader, will try to get a fourth straight win tonight out of Chris Volstad, who left his last start on Wednesday versus Washington after five innings.

Volstad allowed six runs in the 16-10 victory, but was ejected after he threw behind the Nationals' Nyjer Morgan, sparking a benches-clearing brawl. Morgan charged the mound after the pitch and connected with a left to Volstad's neck.

"Obviously, he's not coming out there to talk," Volstad said. "I had to defend myself and not to get hurt."

The 23-year-old righty, who earned his career high-tying ninth win to match his total from last year, was fined and suspended for six games but is appealing.

Volstad is 0-1 with a 5.63 ERA in three starts versus the Phillies this year and was beat up for six runs -- five earned -- over four innings in his last start at Philadelphia on June 8.

He'll look for some help from the offense tonight, especially from Ramirez, seeing as the shortstop is hitting .471 (24-for-51) with five homers and 14 RBI over a 14-game hitting streak.

The Phillies notched a three-game sweep in Miami the last time these clubs met and own an 8-5 edge in the season series.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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