Haren hopes for a little support versus Rockies

Baseball Betting Lines

04/22/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Haren hopes his string of hard-luck starts comes to an end when the Arizona hurler takes the hill for the Diamondbacks in today's rubber match of a three-game series with the Colorado Rockies at Chase Field.

Haren has allowed only four runs and 12 hits through 19 innings over his first three starts of 2009, but was saddled with the loss in all of those games due an unbelievable lack of offensive support. The Diamondbacks have scored a mere one run in Haren's three outings.

One of Haren's setbacks came to the Rockies in Phoenix earlier this month, when the All-Star right-hander was outdueled by Ubaldo Jimenez in a 3-0 Colorado win on April 7. Haren limited the opposition to one run and three hits on that night, while striking out nine Rockies without issuing a walk.

That loss dropped Haren to 3-3 in seven lifetime starts against Colorado, although he's pitched to a solid 3.48 earned run average during that stretch.

The 28-year-old was sharp again in his last mound trip, holding San Francisco to a run and fanning six over six frames in his team's shutout loss to the Giants on Friday.

Haren could be in for another frustrating start this afternoon if his counterpart, Jorge De La Rosa, repeats his most recent performance for the Rockies.

De La Rosa fired 5 1/3 shutout innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, working around four walks and striking out five batters, but was denied his first victory of the season after the Colorado bullpen gave up four runs in the bottom of the seventh.

In his season debut, De La Rosa was dealt a home loss by Philadelphia on April 11 after permitting five runs on six hits in just 4 2/3 innings of work.

The Mexican left-hander owns a 1-1 record with a strong 2.53 ERA in seven career appearances against Arizona, three of which have been starts. He struggled in his only start at Chase Field in 2008, however, surrendering four runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings of a 4-3 Rockies loss last May.

Colorado lost 15 of 18 meetings with Arizona last year, including eight of nine matchups held at Chase Field, but the club has fared much better against the Diamondbacks so far in 2009. The Rockies took two of three games from their fellow National League West members in Phoenix to open the season, and have split the first two tests of this set following Tuesday's 9-6 triumph.

The Rockies trailed 6-3 after five innings but moved in front with a four-run sixth capped by Brad Hawpe's go-ahead two-RBI single off reliever Juan Gutierrez (0-1).

Todd Helton also helped Colorado halt a four-game losing streak by going 3- for-5 with a homer, three RBI and three runs scored at the plate. Garrett Atkins collected three hits as well for the Rockies, who improved to 2-5 on an eight-game road trip that concludes today.

Matt Belisle (1-0) picked up the win with 1 2/3 perfect innings of relief, with Manny Corpas tossing a scoreless ninth to notch his first save of the season.

Mark Reynolds had a two-run homer and Chris Young and Eric Byrnes added solo shots for Arizona, which fell for the seventh time in its last 10 games.

Diamondbacks starter Yusmeiro Petit worked the first five innings and allowed three runs -- two earned -- on eight hits.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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