Pirates go for sweep of Marlins

Baseball Betting Lines

04/22/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Marlins haven't managed many runs versus the Pirates and they haven't even faced their top pitcher yet. Pittsburgh's Paul Maholm looks to extend his torrid start today in the finale of a three-game set with Florida at PNC Park.

Maholm is 2-0 with a 0.87 earned run average through three starts, allowing two earned runs over 20 2/3 innings. He has won back-to-back starts, including Friday versus Atlanta when he tossed seven shutout innings, working around four hits and three walks.

The left-hander brings a career 2-3 mark and 4.40 ERA in five starts versus the Marlins into today's game. He has struggled versus Florida's Hanley Ramirez, who is hitting .385 (5-for-13) versus Maholm with a pair of homers.

Dan Uggla, meanwhile, is hitting just .231 (3-for-13) against the lefty, but has homered twice off him as well.

The Marlins will hope their double play combination can get to Maholm today. Florida has scored just twice in its current set with Pittsburgh, losing Monday's opener 8-0 before a 3-2 setback on Tuesday.

Jeff Karstens (1-0) pitched six innings of one-run ball and Freddy Sanchez went 3-for-4 with a solo homer in the victory. Matt Capps tossed a scoreless ninth to collect his fourth save of the year and Adam LaRoche and Jason Jaramillo also knocked in a run apiece for the Pirates, who have won four of five overall and are 5-3 on a nine-game homestand.

Jaramillo, who has played in just four major league games, figures to be in line for more time after the Pirates placed starting catcher Ryan Doumit on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday due to a fractured scaphoid bone in his right wrist. He is scheduled to undergo surgery on Thursday an is expected to miss eight to 10 weeks.

Ramirez had an RBI double and Cameron Maybin hammered a solo home run to account for the Marlins runs. Florida has dropped two straight after winning the previous seven games and is now 6-2 on its nine-game road trip.

Jorge Cantu missed the game with a sore hand and was replaced by Ross Gload, who finished 1-for-4.

Anibal Sanchez (1-1) took the loss after surrendering three runs on seven hits, striking out six in seven frames.

A 15-game winner last year, Ricky Nolasco will try to get his season on track today. The Marlins right-hander is 1-1 in three starts, but has allowed 11 runs in 15 innings for a 6.60 ERA.

He faced Washington on Friday and lasted only four innings, getting charged with seven hits and two runs in a no-decision.

Nolasco is 1-2 with a 1.99 ERA in five games (3 starts) versus the Pirates. LaRoche is hitting just .176 (3-for-17) off him with three strikeouts, while Sanchez is just 2-for-9 against him lifetime.

The Pirates lost three of five to the Marlins last year, but can sweep the club in three games for the first time since July 16-18, 2004.

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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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