Dempster hopes to keep Wrigley dominance intact against Fish

Baseball Betting Lines

07/25/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Playing the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field has been quite the challenge for enemy teams this season. The task has been even tougher when Ryan Dempster is on the mound.

Dempster and the Cubs will both be attempting to build on their stellar home records when Chicago continues a four-game series with the Florida Marlins this afternoon.

The 31-year-old Dempster earned his first All-Star appearance since 2000 with an excellent first half, with the majority of the converted closer's success coming at Wrigley Field. He won his first 10 decisions at the historic ballpark and has a 2.81 earned run average over the course of his 12 home starts this season.

Dempster did suffer a defeat in his most recent appearance at Wrigley, a July 13 setback to San Francisco in which he allowed four runs over 6 2/3 innings. The right-hander rebounded strongly in Sunday's start at Houston, as he delivered eight shutout innings to lead the Cubs to a 9-0 victory.

The British Columbia native spent his first 4 1/2 major league seasons with the Marlins from 1998-2002 and won a career-best 15 games in a Florida uniform in 2001. Dempster has pitched against his former club 10 times previously -- all in relief -- and has gone 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA and three saves in those games.

Chicago improved to an impressive 38-12 at home on the year with a 6-3 triumph over the Marlins in Thursday's opener of this series. Aramis Ramirez keyed a four-run fifth inning with a two-RBI double, while Carlos Zambrano tossed seven strong frames to help the Cubs hold onto first place in the National League Central.

Zambrano (11-4) gave up two runs on six hits and struck out six for Chicago, which maintained a one-game edge on hard-charging Milwaukee atop the division standings. The Cubs ace got additional offensive support from Ronny Cedeno and Henry Blanco, both of whom slugged solo home runs on the night.

Carlos Marmol, filling in for the disabled Kerry Wood, recorded the final four outs to notch his fourth save of the season.

The Marlins, who have now dropped two in a row and now trail the New York Mets by two games for the top spot in the NL East, received a two-run homer by Hanley Ramirez in a losing cause.

Scott Olsen (6-5) gave up all six Chicago runs on seven hits and walked three during his six-inning stint.

Josh Johnson gets the call for Florida this afternoon and makes his third start following a long absence on the mound. The promising right-hander underwent Tommy John surgery last August after being limited to just four starts last season due to elbow problems.

Johnson hasn't been bad in his two starts since his return, as the 24-year-old has surrendered five runs and struck out 10 batters over 11 2/3 innings in no- decisions against the Dodgers and Phillies. He was able to work 6 2/3 innings in Sunday's tilt with Philadelphia and yielded just two runs in the outing.

In his only career matchup with the Cubs, Johnson lasted just one inning and was tagged for four runs in a 6-3 loss at Wrigley Field on April 24, 2006.

Chicago snapped a 10-game losing streak in this series with Thursday's win. Florida took all six meetings between the clubs last season and recorded a three-game sweep in Wrigley from May 28-30, 2007.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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