Brewers continue set in Chicago

Baseball Betting Lines

09/20/2011 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs won't be going to the playoffs for a third straight season. They'll just have to settle for delaying Milwaukee's clinching of the National League Central.

The Cubs look to play spoiler again tonight in the second contest of a three- game series with the Brewers in the final night game of the season at Wrigley Field.

The Brewers went into last night's opener with a magic number of four to claim their first division title of any kind since winning the AL East back in 1982. The Cubs' Geovany Soto had a different idea, homering twice and driving in all five runs in Chicago's 5-2 victory.

Casey Coleman, meanwhile, allowed one run over six innings and struck out eight for his first victory since May 19 and Chicago's third in four games overall.

"When you strike out a lot of guys it showing you're getting ahead, throwing strikes with all your pitches," Coleman said.

Tonight will be the final time the lights are on at Wrigley Field this year. Wednesday's series final is set to take place in the afternoon before Chicago ends the season on a six-game road trip.

Milwaukee won't mind leaving the historic venue as it had won six in a row over Chicago -- all at home -- before suffering its fourth loss in five games at the Windy City this year.

Jerry Hairston and Casey McGehee connected on solo homers for the Brewers, whose three-game win streak was halted. Milwaukee had won five of six and its lead over second-place St. Louis in the NL Central stands at 5 1/2 games.

"There's no pressure on us," Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder said. "If we just keeping baseball like we've been playing, we should be fine. There's no pressure on us because we're in the driver's seat."

There might be some pressure on Milwaukee starter Shaun Marcum to find the win column as he tries to avoid his first three-game losing streak of the season.

The right-hander has lost four of his past five decisions and has given up 10 earned runs over his two-game slide. He was charged with six runs -- five earned -- on eight hits in five innings of a loss to the Rockies on Wednesday.

Marcum is 12-7 with a 3.40 earned run average this year and that includes a 7-3 mark and 2.31 ERA in 15 road games. The 29-year-old faced the Cubs for the first and only time in his career on July 28 and got the win with six innings of two-run ball.

Randy Wells brings a five-decision win streak into his start tonight for the Cubs, but he was roughed up by the Reds on Thursday in a no-decision. The righty yielded five runs on seven hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings as the Cubs lost an 8-6 game.

Wells, who hasn't lost since July 28, is 7-4 with a 4.93 ERA this year and 2-3 with a 4.53 ERA lifetime versus Milwaukee.

Chicago shortstop Starlin Castro connected on a single in last night's game to run his career-high streak of reaching base safely to 32 straight games. It is the longest for a Cubs shortstop since Woody English's 32-game run in 1930. English also reached base safely in 34 consecutive games in the previous season.

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Matt Kenseth And Kevin Harvick Favorites To Take NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship

(September 15)—The NASCAR season has hit the homestretch with the opening event on this year’s Chase for the Cup taking place this weekend at the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. With 10 races remaining to determine the Cup Series champion, leading online sportsbook MySportsbook.com today announced odds on all 10 Chase qualifying drivers capturing the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.

One of the largest sportsbook sites on the Internet, MySportsbook.com currently lists the top two drivers in the point standings as the early favorites to win the Nextel Cup. Entering the Chase for the Cup with a slim five-point lead in the point standings, 2003 NASCAR champ Matt Kenseth has been made a slight favorite to win his second Cup at 7/2 betting odds. 2001 Cup Rookie of the Year Kevin Harvick has betting odds listed at 5/2 and four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon is listed at 6/1 to capture the Nextel Cup this year.

Hoping to follow in the footsteps of his legendary father who won six NASCAR titles, Dale Earnhardt Jr. stands at 8/1 to breakthrough with his first Cup victory. Staying with the family theme, MySportsbook.com lists 2005 Rookie of the Year Kyle Busch at 14/1 to succeed big brother Kurt’s 2004 NASCAR title. While Kasey Kahne was the final driver to qualify for the Chase with a third place finish last week, the oddsmakers give him a fighting chance at 10/1 mainly due to several mile-and-a-half tracks remaining on the schedule. Despite going winless on the NASCAR circuit this season, Jeff Burton enters the Chase at 5/1 to capture the Cup title. Meanwhile, rookie Denny Hamlin is 4/1 to win the championship, while veteran driver Mark Martin enters the Chase for the Cup as a 15/1 long shot to win his first NASCAR title in his 24th and final season.

MySportsbook.com will offer comprehensive Nascar betting lines on every race remaining on the Nextel Cup series including driver match-ups, props and odds to win each race. For a complete list of NASCAR odds, please visit www.MySportsbook.com.

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