Richard takes mound for Padres at Arizona

Baseball Betting Lines

08/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Clayton Richard has a chance to reach the 10-win mark for the first time in his career. The San Diego Padres hope their young starter can achieve the feat and keep them alone atop the NL West standings tonight against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the continuation of a three-game series.

Richard already owns a career-best nine wins (9-5) this season in 22 starts to go along with a 3.60 earned run average. He has won back-to-back starts and five of his last six decisions, including Monday's 10-5 win at Los Angeles in which he was reached for four runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings.

The left-hander, who is 4-2 in 10 road starts this season, squared off with Arizona for the first time in his career back on July 17 this season. In his team's 8-5 victory, Richard recorded the victory even though he surrendered five runs on nine hits through 6 1/3 frames.

San Diego could use a decent showing Saturday after suffering a tough 2-1 loss to the D'Backs in last night's series opener at Chase Field. Will Venable homered in the third inning to provide the scoring for the Padres, who have lost three of four and five of their last eight games. Their lead in the NL West has shriveled down to just one game over San Francisco.

Jon Garland was the hard-luck loser for the Friars as he gave up just two runs on three hits with six crucial walks and four strikeouts over seven innings.

"Jon bended a little but didn't break," San Diego manager Bud Black said on the team's site. "He got stronger as the game went on."

Diamondbacks young starting pitcher Dan Hudson had a strong outing of his own and held the Padres in check with 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball. Hudson struck out four batters as well, while Jordan Norberto got the final out of the eighth inning and Aaron Heilman posted his fifth save with a scoreless ninth.

Adam LaRoche homered and Justin Upton collected two hits and an RBI for Arizona, which has won two straight and four of its last six games.

"These are the games we've been losing, and a lot of them we've kind of beat [ourselves] late in games," LaRoche said on Arizona's official website. "So to see guys come in games and get some big outs late -- we stranded a couple runners and made some plays behind them -- this was nice."

D'Backs third baseman Mark Reynolds did not play last night and is still recovering from a concussion suffered after getting hit in the head with a pitch on August 4. He has 25 home runs and 69 RBI this season.

Arizona will hand the ball to Rodrigo Lopez tonight and he's 0-3 with a 5.76 earned run average in his last four starts -- all Diamondbacks losses. Lopez pitched well enough for the win his last time out on Monday versus Washington, but suffered the loss for allowing all three runs in seven innings.

Lopez fell to 5-10 in 22 starts and owns a 4.64 ERA this season. He is 3-6 in 12 home starts and is searching for his first career victory over San Diego. The right-hander lost to the Padres on July 17 at Petco Park, as he permitted six runs in six innings of an 8-5 loss.

He is 0-2 in two career starts in this series.

The Padres had won six in a row against Arizona before Friday's loss and are 7-3 in the 2010 season series. On the flip side, they have lost in eight of their last 10 trips to the Valley of the Sun.

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Super Bowl XLIV Odds

Super Bowl XLIII isn't even a week old yet and oddsmakers have already released Super Bowl XLIV odds.

Despite the Pittsburgh Steelers winning Super Bowl 43, the New England Patriots are 8/1 favorites to win Super Bowl 44.

Bet Super Bowl XLIV Future Odds

With their 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII, the Steelers became the latest NFL champion. But believe it or not, oddsmakers from online sports book MySportsbook.com don't have the Steelers the favorites to win Super Bowl XLIV next season.

That honor belongs to the New England Patriots, who are 8/1 favorites to win despite not even qualify for the postseason in 2008. The Pats also have a major decision to make regarding what to do with Matt Cassel, who played well in Tom Brady's (knee surgery) absence last year but is also a free agent this offseason.

Ironically, the Steelers aren't even oddsmakers second choice to win Super Bowl 44, as the Dallas Cowboys are listed right behind the Patriots at 9/1 despite not making the playoffs themselves. Clearly oddsmakers think the public will hop back on the Cowboys' bandwagon considering the immense talent they have and the opening of a brand new stadium.

After Dallas, then comes Pittsburgh at 10/1, but they share those odds with the New York Giants, who won Super Bowl XLII. The Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers round out the top six teams at 12/1, while the Baltimore Ravens (14/1), Tennessee Titans (16/1), Carolina Panthers (18/1) and Philadelphia Eagles (18/1) complete the top 10.

The NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals got no love from oddsmakers as they were established as a 30/1 long shot to win next year's Super Bowl. They share those same odds with the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers – two teams that didn't even qualify for the postseason. Other long shots are the Kansas City Chiefs (100/1), Detroit Lions (100/1), St. Louis Rams (75/1) and Oakland Raiders (75/1).

To see a complete list of all the team's odds to win Super Bowl XLIV, check below.

NFL TEAM FUTURE ODDS TO WIN SUPER BOWL XLIV

New England Patriots 8/1

Dallas Cowboys 9/1

New York Giants 10/1

Pittsburgh Steelers 10/1

Indianapolis Colts 12/1

San Diego Chargers 12/1

Baltimore Ravens 14/1

Tennessee Titans 16/1

Carolina Panthers 18/1

Philadelphia Eagles 18/1

New Orleans Saints 20/1

Atlanta Falcons 25/1

Denver Broncos 25/1

Green Bay Packers 25/1

Jacksonville Jaguars 25/1

Minnesota Vikings 25/1

New York Jets 25/1

Arizona Cardinals 30/1

Chicago BearS 30/1

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30/1

Buffalo Bills 35/1

Houston TexaNS 35/1

Miami Dolphins 35/1

Washington Redskins 35/1

Seattle SeahawkS 50/1

Cleveland Browns 55/1

Cincinnati Bengals 60/1

San Francisco 49ers 60/1

Oakland Raiders 75/1

St. Louis Rams 75/1

Detroit Lions 100/1

Kansas City Chiefs 100/1

Odds as of: 2/2/09

Bet Super Bowl XLIV Future Odds

To visit this online sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.