Zito hopes to get on track at Chavez Ravine

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09/03/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The door has been left open for the Giants to make a run at the National League West title. That means now would be a good time for Barry Zito to get back on track.

The struggling former Cy Young Award winner will try to snap a six-decision losing streak and pitch San Francisco to a fourth straight win over Los Angeles this evening in the opener of a three-game set at Dodger Stadium.

Though the Giants have won just three times in their last seven games overall, they are just three back of the first-place Padres in the division standings thanks to San Diego's current seven-game slide. San Francisco is also just two games back of NL Wild Card-leading Philadelphia.

The Giants kicked off a string of 16 straight games versus NL West opponents by losing two of three to the Diamondbacks, but rebounded to take two of three at home versus the Rockies. San Francisco now plays its next 10 on the road, a trek that concludes with four games at San Diego from Sept. 9-12.

San Francisco took Wednesday's rubber match of a three-game set with Colorado, 2-1, as Tim Lincecum outdueled Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez.

Lincecum gave up just a run and struck out nine over eight innings for his first victory since July 30.

The Giants scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as Mike Fontenot worked a walk off Jimenez. Lincecum's sacrifice bunt then moved a pinch- running Darren Ford to second before Jimenez uncorked a wild pitch. Ford broke for third and the throw to the bag by Colorado catcher Miguel Olivo was high, allowing Ford to come home.

"It was a great game for both sides tonight," said Fontenot, who had a run- scoring single in the fifth. "Tim came out and really threw the ball well."

The Giants might need to supply some more offense tonight given that Zito has posted an 11.48 earned run average over his last four appearances, a span that includes three starts. Zito has picked up a loss in all four outings, yielding 17 earned runs in 13 1/3 innings.

The 32-year-old lefty hasn't won since July 16 and lasted just 3 2/3 innings versus Arizona on Saturday, yielding nine runs -- seven earned -- on six hits and five walks.

"I'm just not in a good rhythm. The pitches just aren't crisp right now," Zito said. "It requires working hard between starts."

Zito, who is 8-10 with a 4.07 ERA this year, has held the Dodgers to a pair of runs or fewer in all four starts versus them this year, but is just 0-1 despite the 1.95 ERA as the Giants have plated just five runs in his starts.

He got a no-decision versus the Dodgers on July 31 despite seven innings of one-run ball, as game won by the Giants as part of a three-game home sweep. By winning five of the last six meetings between the clubs, San Francisco and Los Angeles have split 12 overall meetings and six in LA so far this year.

Los Angeles has lost four of its last five and dropped the rubber match of a three-game set with Philadelphia, 5-1, on Wednesday. The Dodgers did not get their first hit off Phillies starter Roy Oswalt until there were two outs in the sixth inning and managed just James Loney's RBI hit in the eighth frame.

"We made Roy work for it. He's effective because he can throw a number of pitches for strikes. He keeps you guessing," said Dodgers manager Joe Torre. "We need to be more productive in the middle of our lineup. We still have a six or seven-game winning streak in us, but we need to do it now."

Clayton Kershaw struck out 11 in six innings, but was touched for five hits and two runs in the loss.

Chad Billingsley will start tonight for the Dodgers and has lost three of his last four decisions. The righty is coming off a loss in Colorado on Saturday after giving up three runs on five hits and five walks over six innings without a strikeout, falling to 10-8 with a 3.73 ERA this year.

Billingsley, who has a 2.06 ERA over his last eight starts, is 1-0 in three games versus the Giants this year and hasn't allowed a run over his last two starts against them, spanning 15 2/3 innings. That includes a five-hit shutout for the 26-year-old at home on July 21.

The Giants have won six of seven over the Dodgers this season, but are just 6-6 in the season series.

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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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