Baltinoreravens Baseball Betting News

<< Wells powers Blue Jays past Yankees
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vernon Wells finished a double shy of hitting for the cycle and drove in four runs to power Toronto to a 6-3 win over New York in the last of a three-game set. Wells finished 3-for-4 with a pair of runs s

<< Pirates beat Cardinals again behind McCutchen
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel McCutchen threw six strong innings and Neil Walker hit a three-run triple as the Pittsburgh Pirates took a 5-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in the finale of a three-game set from PNC Park.

<< Cahill continues Oakland's pitching prowess in win over Tribe
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trevor Cahill pitched Oakland's 17th straight quality start, and the Athletics shut down the Indians in a 6-1 win at Progressive Field. Cahill (14-5) continued his sensational season by pitching s

<< Ramirez, Marlins edge Mets
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hanley Ramirez went 4-for-5 and drove in a run, as the Florida Marlins held on to edge the New York Mets, 5-4, in the middle contest of a three-game series. Logan Morrison added three hits, includin

Wozniacki, Dementieva land in New Haven quarters >>
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki and former U.S. Open runner-up Elena Dementieva were each second-round winners Wednesday at the $600,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final hardcourt U.S. Open tune-up. Denmark's

Wieters, Matusz lead Orioles past White Sox >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Wieters collected two hits and drove in two runs in support of seven strong innings from Brian Matusz, as Baltimore slowed down Chicago, 4-2, in the middle session of a three-game set. Brian Roberts

Morehead State men's hoops placed on probation >>
Morehead, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Morehead State University announced on Wednesday its men's basketball program has been placed on probation for two years due to major violations in recruiting. The violation, which is related to

Guerrero's homer lifts Rangers over Twins >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vladimir Guerrero's 430th career home run leading off the sixth proved to be the difference, as the Texas Rangers beat the Twins for the third straight day, 4-3, at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Guerre

Football Betting

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .