Cardinals try to bounce back in battle with Brewers

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08/17/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - August is Albert Pujols' month to shine, and the St. Louis Cardinals hope the consistent slugger can help get them back into first place.

Looking to snap a two-game losing streak, St. Louis welcomes the Milwaukee Brewers to town for a quick two-game set at Busch Stadium.

The Cardinals swept the Reds in three games early last week to take a one-game lead for the top spot in the National League Central, but after winning Friday's opener with the Cubs, St. Louis lost the final two games of that set to fall a game back of Cincinnati in the division race.

Sunday's 9-7 loss wasn't as close as it looked, as the Cardinals trailed the Cubs by seven runs heading into the ninth. Though they plated five runs in the final frame, they were unable to complete the comeback.

Pujols and Steven Hill both hit solo homers in the setback, with Pujols extending his own major league record of consecutive seasons of at least 30 home runs to 10 campaigns.

"Three things he's the most famous for, which are 30 home runs, 100 RBI and .300 [batting average], that's the least remarkable thing about Albert," said Cardinals manager Tony La Russa. "He's a line drive hitter who hits home runs -- 30 line drives go out of the park. The most remarkable thing about Albert is that over 162 games, he hits .300 and drives in 100 runs."

Pujols is batting .440 with six homers and 14 RBI in 12 games this month, and is a lifetime .347 hitter in August with 76 homers and 207 RBI in 258 games.

The Cardinals, who are just a half-game back in the NL Wild Card race as well, turn tonight to Jaime Garcia, who has pitched to a 6.06 earned run average over his last three games but is coming off a win over the Reds last Tuesday.

The 24-year-old southpaw allowed four runs on two hits and five walks over 5 1/3 innings of an 8-4 triumph, improving to 10-5 with a 2.71 ERA on the season. The young hurler is also 4-2 with a 1.94 ERA in 10 starts at Busch Stadium this year.

Garcia has faced the Brewers three times this year and is 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA.

Milwaukee comes into this set having lost five of seven, including a 6-5 setback in Sunday's rubber match of a three-game series at Colorado. Milwaukee scored two runs in the ninth inning to tie it, with Corey Hart's wind-blown pop-up evading Rockies second baseman Clint Barmes to score both runs, but Trevor Hoffman allowed a two-out run-scoring single to Troy Tulowitzki in the bottom of the inning.

"All three games [of the series] ended in the last at-bat for each team that won, so I guess that all makes it interesting," said Brewers manager Ken Macha.

Rickie Weeks was a perfect 4-for-4 with a run scored at the plate for Milwaukee, while Prince Fielder had a two-run single and Ryan Braun contributed three hits to the loss.

Dave Bush draws the starting assignment for the Brewers tonight and is 0-2 over his last three starts, allowing 15 earned runs over 16 1/3 innings.

Bush matched the wrong kind of history Wednesday versus Arizona, as he became just the third pitcher to allow four straight homers, doing so over 10 pitches in the fourth inning of an 8-2 setback.

"You just try to forget about it. Try to move on," said Bush, who also tied a major league record for most homers allowed in an inning while joining former Yankee Chase Wright (2007) and Angel Paul Foytack (1963) as the hurlers to do so in four straight batters.

The 30-year-old Bush fell to 5-10 with a 4.78 ERA this year after his 5 1/3- inning stint versus Arizona.

Bush is 2-6 with a 6.40 ERA in his career versus the Cardinals. He faced them back on April 9, allowing three runs over 5 2/3 frames of a no-decision, and also opposed them in relief as well during this season.

The Cardinals have won 15 of their last 24 versus the Brewers.

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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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