Astros try to continue dominance of Reds

Baseball Betting Lines

05/29/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The struggling Houston Astros will try to continue their season dominance over the Cincinnati Reds when the two clubs open a three-game series this evening at Minute Maid Park.

Houston, which has dropped eight straight and 10 of its last 11 games overall, owns a 7-2 mark over the Reds this season. The Astros won two of three games against Cincinnati at Minute Maid Park from May 1 - 3.

The Astros were just swept in back-to-back series against San Francisco and Arizona, and dropped all four games to the Diamondbacks at Chase Field. In Sunday's series finale against the D-backs, Morgan Ensberg hit a solo home run during an 8-4 loss, while starter Roy Oswalt suffered his first loss against Arizona after he was charged with six runs -- five earned -- on 10 hits in six-plus innings of work. Oswalt had been 6-0 in seven career starts against the Diamondbacks coming into the game.

The last time the Astros have dropped eight straight was in May of 2001.

Taking the ball for Houston in Tuesday's series opener will be Jason Jennings, who will make his third start in a Houston uniform. Jennings was acquired in a trade with Colorado in the offseason and missed the first two months of the season with elbow tendinitis.

Jennings last took the hill on April 8 against St. Louis and was saddled with the loss, permitting three runs and five hits in six innings. In his first start on April 3 against Pittsburgh, Jennings did not factor in the decision as he yielded a run and five hits over six innings.

The right-hander owns a 2-3 record and a 3.68 ERA in seven career starts against the Reds.

Cincinnati put the brakes on a six-game slide with Monday's 4-0 win over Pittsburgh in the finale of a four-game series. Kyle Lohse tossed a six-hit shutout to snap the skid. He didn't walk a batter and fanned two en route to his fifth career complete game and fourth career shutout. The right-hander also snapped a personal six-game losing streak.

David Ross had a two-run homer, while Edwin Encarnacion was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs batted in for the Reds. On the injury front for the Reds, center fielder Ryan Freel left the game with an apparent neck injury after colliding with teammate Norris Hopper in the third inning.

Freel was chasing down a fly ball in right-center field and made a great running catch before colliding with Hopper. Freel was immobilized as a precaution and immediately placed in an ambulance and transported to a local hospital. He did have feeling in all of his extremities, however. Freel was diagnosed with a contusion to the head and neck and will be re-evaluated today.

Matt Belisle will toe the rubber this evening and is 4-4 with a 4.65 ERA over 10 starts this season. He has lost three of his last four starts and was beaten by Washington the last time out on May 24, giving up four runs and 10 hits through seven innings.

Belisle, who is 3-1 in four road starts this season, faced Houston on May 9 and suffered the loss following seven innings of six-hit ball. He was charged with three unearned runs and fell to 0-3 in 10 career games (2 starts) versus the Astros.

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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

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