Arroyo and Votto lead surging Reds past Dodgers

Baseball Betting Lines

08/22/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bronson Arroyo twirled seven strong innings to help the Cincinnati Reds take a 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the finale of a three-game set.

Arroyo (14-7) gave up just two runs on seven hits with six strikeouts for the Reds, who have won eight of their last nine. Joey Votto went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, three RBI and two runs scored while Ryan Hanigan drove in a pair in the win.

"I didn't have overwhelming command today," said Arroyo. "But I did get them to hit the ball where our guys were at. In the sixth, I still had some gas in the tank but I told them to watch me. It's nice to win here."

With the win, the Reds maintained their 3 1/2 games lead over the Cardinals for first place in the NL Central.

A.J. Ellis went 3-for-3 with an RBI while Matt Kemp added a solo home run for the Dodgers, who were looking for their first series win since taking two of three against Washington from August 6-8.

Clayton Kershaw (11-8) was saddled with the loss as he was charged with three runs on five hits with five walks and 11 strikeouts over seven innings.

"Clayton settled down after the first inning," said Dodgers manager Joe Torre. "But when you don't put up runs it puts a lot of stress on our pitchers. We struggled against a pretty good pitcher today."

The Reds jumped on top in the first inning. Brandon Phillips led off with a single and, after Miguel Cairo struck out, back-to-back walks to Votto and Jonny Gomes loaded the bases. Chris Heisey then struck out, but Hanigan punched a two-run single to center for a 2-0 lead.

The Dodgers got one back in the second when Kemp led off the frame with a blast over the center field wall, his 21st home run of the season.

The score remained that way until the fifth when Los Angeles tied the game. With one out, Casey Blake singled and Jamey Carroll followed with a base hit. Ellis then stroked a single to center to make it a 2-2 game.

Cincinnati, though, took the lead right back as Votto led off the sixth with a shot to left, his 29th homer of the season, for a 3-2 advantage.

Arroyo worked around a leadoff single in the sixth then threw a scoreless seventh before handing the ball to Nick Masset, who tossed a 1-2-3 eighth inning.

The Reds gave themselves some insurance in the ninth as Votto's two-run single off Jonathan Broxton with the bases loaded made it a 5-2 game.

Francisco Cordero set the Dodgers down in order in the ninth to pick up his 34th save of the season.

Game Notes

Cincinnati continues its nine-game road trip in San Francisco on Monday...The Reds won the season series, 5-4...The Dodgers hit the road and begin a three- game series in Milwaukee on Tuesday...It was Cincinnati's first series win in Los Angeles since May 14-16, 2004...Arroyo is 3-4 against the Dodgers in his career.

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.