Oswalt toes the hill for Astros against Reds

Baseball Betting Lines

07/24/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran right-hander Rot Oswalt makes what could be one of the last starts of his Houston career tonight when the Astros meet the Cincinnati Reds in the middle test of a three-game series at Minute Maid Park.

Oswalt, a Houston fixture since the Astros picked him in the 23rd round of the 1996 draft, has been the subject of rampant trade rumors in recent days, with reported suitors including the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers.

The two-time 20-game winner and eight-time double-digit winner has slumped to just six wins in 17 decisions with a subpar Houston team this season, but is said to be close to the form that earned him 17 victories as recently as 2008.

He's consistently shown that form in a remarkable career against the Reds, winning 23 times in 25 decisions, while posting a 2.62 earned run average against Cincinnati across 213 innings.

The Reds did hand him a tough-luck loss in their last get-together, touching him for eight hits and three runs in seven innings while winning a 4-2 verdict on April 29 in Cincinnati.

Oswalt is 4-8 in 14 starts since, including a 9-0 loss at Pittsburgh on July 18. His last win came against the Pirates in Houston on July 8, in the form of a one-hitter with eight strikeouts in the Astros' 2-0 triumph.

He is 2-8 in 11 starts this season at Minute Maid Park.

For the Reds, third-year Dominican Johnny Cueto aims for his 10th win in just his 20th start of 2010. The 24-year-old righty was a nine-game winner in 31 starts as a rookie in 2008, then won 11 times in 30 starts last season.

He got to nine wins this season in his last start on July 19, allowing four hits and two runs in six innings of a 7-2 defeat of Washington.

In seven career games against the Astros, however, Cueto is 0-4 with a 5.22 ERA in 39 2/3 innings. Conversely, he's 4-1 on the road this year in 10 outings.

On Friday, Jay Bruce doubled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning to lift the Reds to a 6-4 win.

Joey Votto was 3-for-4 with a home run, walked and scored one of his two runs on Bruce's double. Ryan Hanigan had a two-run single and Bruce ended with two RBI as the Reds bounced back from dropping the final two games of a four-game set with Washington.

Francisco Cordero put the tying run on base in the ninth but stranded a pair by getting Hunter Pence to line out to center to end the game and earn his 27th save. Logan Ondrusek (1-0) picked up his first major-league win for tossing a scoreless inning of relief.

Pence was 4-for-5, hit a game-tying two-run homer in the sixth, scored twice and drove in three for Houston, which was coming off a 3-3 road trip.

Tim Byrdak (1-1) had gone 19 appearances without allowing a run but took the loss after surrendering two on three hits without recording an out.

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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