Giants turn to ace in hopes of stopping Padres' surge

Baseball Betting Lines

06/01/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres are on their best winning surge of the season, but the improving squad figures to face a stern challenge in today's finale of a three-game series with the San Francisco Giants from AT&T Park.

San Diego has won five of its last six games, including a season-high three in a row, after cruising to a 5-1 victory over the Giants on Saturday. Josh Banks provided a huge lift for the Padres in his initial start of the season, as the rookie righty spun a six-hitter for his first career complete game.

Banks (2-0), recalled from Triple-A Portland last week to take the rotation spot of the injured Chris Young, yielded just one unearned run and struck out five without walking a batter. The 24-year-old has yet to allow an unearned run in 17 innings since being promoted.

The Padres gave their young pitcher some early support with a four-run first inning, highlighted by Adrian Gonzalez's two-RBI single. Justin Huber delivered a run-scoring double later in the frame.

Gonzalez added a solo homer later on for San Diego, which handed the Giants their seventh consecutive home loss. That's San Francisco's longest winless drought at AT&T Park since the stadium opened in 2000.

Patrick Misch (0-2) suffered the loss on Saturday after permitting five runs (4 earned) on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings.

San Francisco will turn to ace Tim Lincecum this afternoon in hopes of stopping its slide. The second-year hurler has put together a brilliant sophomore campaign thus far, which includes two dominating performances against the Padres.

Lincecum held San Diego to one run and seven hits over six innings at AT&T Park back on April 8, although the Giants bullpen blew a late lead to deny him a win. The hard-throwing righty got one on April 24, however, by striking out nine Padres and yielding just four hits in 6 1/3 shutout innings at Petco Park.

The 23-year-old is just 1-1 over four lifetime starts against the Padres, but has a stellar 1.40 earned run average in those games.

Lincecum, who currently ranks second in the NL in both ERA (2.33) and strikeouts (76), ran his overall record to 7-1 with 7 1/3 solid innings to defeat Arizona on Tuesday. He allowed three runs on six hits and struck out seven.

He'll be opposed this afternoon by veteran Randy Wolf, who aims for a third straight sharp outing.

Wolf halted a five-start winless streak by holding Cincinnati to two runs and four hits through seven innings on May 22, then followed up with six frames of two-run ball against Washington on Tuesday. The 31-year-old Californian did not receive a decision, however, in an eventual 4-2 Padres victory.

Both of those starts came in spacious Petco Park, however. On the road, Wolf is just 1-3 with a 5.97 ERA in six games this season.

Wolf went head-to-head with Lincecum in that April 8 encounter at AT&T Park and also did not factor in the decision, despite permitting just two runs in six innings. The left-hander is 5-4 with a 4.01 ERA over 11 career starts against the Giants.

San Francisco holds a slim 4-3 edge over the Padres in this year's season series, but San Diego won 14 of 18 clashes with the Giants in 2007. The Padres are 10-5 over their last 15 games at AT&T Park.

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It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.

As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.

Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.

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Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

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A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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