Latos returns from DL to face Pirates

Baseball Betting Lines

07/24/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mat Latos returns from a short stint on the disabled list this evening when the San Diego Padres continue their three-game set with the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.

Latos, who had been sidelined with a strained left oblique brought on by a sneeze, won his final five decisions before the All-Star break and is 10-4 on the year with a 2.45 earned run average.

Over his last four starts Latos has allowed just one run and has not surrendered one in his last two outings, spanning 15 innings. He has also allowed two runs or less in 12 of his last 13 starts.

This will be his first-ever start against the Pirates, who will pin their hopes on righty Jeff Karstens. Winless in his last three decisions, Karstens was done in by the longball in his last outing on Monday against Milwaukee. Karstens, a San Diego native, surrendered three runs on three hits - a solo home run, then a two-run shot - in six innings to fall to 2-5 on the year to go along with a 4.84 ERA.

Like Latos, Karstens will be making his first start against his opponent tonight, but he has faced the Padres twice out of the bullpen, going 0-1 after yielding five runs and three hits in 2 1/3 innings of work.

San Diego continued to thrive in the Steel City in the opener of this set on Friday, as Adrian Gonzalez capped a four-run second inning with a sacrifice fly, helping the Padres to a 5-3 victory.

Gonzalez is just 1-for-13 in his last four games, but has driven in 19 runs in his last 17 games against the Pirates.

Chris Denorfia stroked an RBI double for the Padres, who are 21-9 at Pittsburgh since the start of the 2001 season. Kevin Correia (7-6) gave up three runs -- two earned -- on six hits and three walks in six innings to record his first road win since April 28. He also had a run-scoring single.

"It wasn't great, but I made good pitches in the situations I needed to," Correia said.

San Diego is now an NL-best 26-20 away from home this season.

Lastings Milledge contributed a two-run single for the Pirates, while Paul Maholm (6-8), coming off a three-hit shutout against Houston in his last start, was tagged for four runs and nine hits over six full frames.

"I tried to keep us in the game," Maholm said. "I still felt like I could go out there and throw pitches where I wanted to."

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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.