8:05 p.m. Houston Astros at St. Louis Cardinals (Astros Lead Series 3-2) Best Line: STL -145, HOU +146 With all of the smart money being thrown at the Houston Astros, it’s apparent that most people think dodgystarter Roy Oswalt can derail any of the heroic momentum from Monday night sparked by Albert Pujols and the resilient Cardinals. Here’s the thing, however: With Cardinal fans bashing their dopey Thunderstix and getting all misty over what could potentially be the last game at Busch Stadium is it entirely possible that they’ve already given up on the series?

Read More » Chopping Lines: The March of the Red Death

With the public jumping all over the St. Louis Cardinals and Mark Mulder for tonight’s NLCS tilt-a-whirl, the bookies have all piled on to Houston Astros’ pitcher Roy Oswalt and his +140 underdog price. Not good news for Cardinals’ backers and fans as we know that all that money going one direction usually spells disaster for a team. In gambling terms, of course. However, we cannot overlook the fact that, well, stranger things have happened before. But we also can’t forget the Astros were christened that lovable "team of destiny" early on. We’ll admit that if the Cardinals’ do pull off the comeback in this series we’ll be curious to see if Astros’ knock-out closer Brad Lidge becomes the next Donnie Moore.

Read More » NLCS Betting: Wise Guys Love Oswalt

· We won’t make the mistake of not owning up to our little competition with the king shark over at American Gambling News. We will reluctantly acknowledge the fact that he’s beating us so far in head-to-head competition–for now. Yes, last night’s pick of the Rams at +14 seemed to be working out just fine, until the Indianapolis Colts defense(which is getting as much press as, oh, the ‘85 Bears D right now) started taking over the game. What. The. Fuck. Get Mike Martz off the sidelines and put him in a hermetically-sealed bubble or something.

Read More » Oddjack Betting: Cleaning Out Our Pujols

8 p.m. Houston Astros at St. Louis Cardinals Best Line: HOU +140, STL -142 Oh, how we suck at baseball picks. Even though we won that White Sox game last night, well, we still don’t really feel like we won it. We’re sure you know what we mean. So, tonight’s pick means great news for St. Louis Cardinals’ fans as we take our mush MLB picks and once again side with the underdog Astros. We’re always perplexed when Roy Oswalt pitches because of his body type.

Read More » Chopping Lines: Roy Oswalt Shall Make Us Whole

8 p.m. Houston Astros at St. Louis Cardinals Best Line: STL -160, HOU +164 With the concerns over Andy Pettite’s health going into this evening, we’re a little skeptical about hopping on this underdog pick even though we really, really want to. We’re actually trying not to follow our instincts for once when it comes to MLB betting because the results of our flawed logic have led to nothing but one disaster after another.

Read More » Chopping Lines: Welcome to Astrodome

We were thinking the same thing as we looked at tomorrow’s NLCS rematch between the Houston Astros and the St. Louis Cardinals. How could these guys have anything left after the 18-inning game against the Atlanta Braves? We get tired going outside to get the mail and walking up a flight of stairs. How must Phil Garner’s squad feel at this point? As +150 underdogs tonight, the Astros don’t really have much of a shot. All that confidence from Sunday’s victory could be erased quickly once somebody falls asleep in the batter’s box or one of his relievers’ arms flies off during their third pitch.

Read More » MLB Betting: Should You Stay Away From the Sleepwalking Astros?

4:00 p.m. San Diego Padres at San Diego Padres Best Line: SD +250, STL -235 We’re probably going to regret doing this, but it’s Thursday and we’re in the mood to gamble. We’re also in the mood for a milkshake so if somebody could get on that, we’d appreciate it. As we previously showed, Cardinals’ starter Mark Mulder has been a wilting turd on the mound lately. Especially during day games. What we should focus on is how well Pedro Astacio has pitched for the Padres since coming over from the Texas Rangers.

Read More » Chopping Lines: Rebirth of the Padres

Beleaguered St. Louis Cardinals starter Mark Mulder takes the mound this afternoon for the second game of the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres and the hefty -220 pricetag he’s carrying has some bookmakers perplexed. According to one Covers’ expert, this number is waaay too generous for Mulder considering his recent performances:

"I think there is some cause for concern,? says Covers Expert Steve Merril. ?It?s one thing for him to get shelled, but to give up that many walks, that shows a control problem.

Read More » MLB Betting: Mulder’s Yips a Cause for Alarm

St. Louis Cardinals 8, San Diego Padres 5 Status=LOSS · Well, apparently that whole Jake-Peavy-will-take-over-the-world theory wasn’t the best approach to take in yesterday’s St. Louis Cardinals-San Diego Padres game. The Padres pulled together a rally a little too late to keep us interested, but we were pretty sure the toothless Padres didn’t have a six-run 9th innning comeback in them. That was the one thing we were right about this game. The rest of the series appears to be all St. Louis–especially now that Peavy’s done for the year with a rib injury.

Read More » MLB Betting: Not A Good Day To Be Named ‘Clement’ or ‘Oddjack’

1 p.m. San Diego Padres at St.Louis Cardinals Best Line: SD +184, STL -178 It’s a glorious afternoon for baseball. If only it were a bit colder outside, then we’d be absolutely perfect. The first game of the second season features the aformentioned Chris "Gamer" Carpenter versus Jake Peavy. If there’s a game the Padres can take, this is it. Peavy’s all gutsy and gritty, whereas Carpenter has taken the last month off because, well, he could. And what does he have to prove anyway? After two good seasons, he’s a Hall of Famer. Ahem.

Read More » Chopping Lines: Peavy’s Big Adventure