Website design By BotEap.comAs I’ve said so many times, “fortunes change very quickly in MLB.” Just the latest examples are the current destinations of the LA Dodgers and St Louis Cardinals. The Dodgers won 3-0 last night in Greg Maddux’s team debut (six innings and no hits!) and enter the weekend with the longest active winning streak in MLB (six in a row).

Website design By BotEap.comMy free game for Friday is at the Oak A’s over the Sea Mariners at 10:05 ET. Tonight in MLB, I’ll throw one of my exclusive LEGEND plays (4-0 in MLB 2006), as I look to get out of a nine-day losing streak. Be sure to check out my game over the weekend at this year’s NFL Hall of Fame Game on Sunday.

Website design By BotEap.comMeanwhile, the Cardinals were beaten 8-1 by the Phillies last night as Chase Utley had three hits for the Phillies and extended his hitting streak to 35 games. The Cardinals have now lost seven straight games, the longest active losing streak in MLB. Not too long ago, things had been very different for these two teams.

Website design By BotEap.comThe Dodgers opened the second half of the season losing 13 of their first 14 games (they were outscored 81-29) and had lost eight straight before their three-game home series with the Nationals last Friday. The Dodgers won a week ago tonight by a score of 13-1 and have outscored their opponents by a combined 42-16 in their winning streak.

Website design By BotEap.comThe Cardinals were struggling before the break and had lost 13 of 16 games after losing the first game of their four-game series with the Astros in Houston on the final weekend of the first half of the season. However, the Cardinals took the final three games of that series and then opened the second half by sweeping a four-game series in Los Angeles against the then-falling Dodgers.

Website design By BotEap.comNow the Cardinals are struggling again, allowing 34 hits and 24 runs in their last two games while being outscored 50-26 in their current slide. The Dodgers will try to extend their winning streak this weekend in Florida while the Cardinals try to end their streak against the Brewers at home. St. Louis opened as a minus-$1.85 favorite despite their losing streak, as Chris Carpenter starts and the starting money already has them hovering around minus-$2.00.

Website design By BotEap.comSpeaking of $2.00 favorites, Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs open Friday’s 15-game schedule as under-$2.15 favorites when they host the Pirates at 2:20 ET. Zambrano (12-3, 3.26) has won his last nine decisions, last losing on May 31. He is 7-2 with a 3.45 ERA in 11 career starts and two relief appearances against Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh opens up Tom Gorzelanny, who is coming off his first ML win in his last outing. However, at 13-40, the Pirates have the worst road record in MLB.

Website design By BotEap.comThree American League teams opened as $2.00 favorites on Friday and all are playing away from home! Randy Johnson goes for the Yankees when they visit the Orioles tonight at 7:05 ET and is 11-9 with a 5.07 ERA. However, the Orioles send Bruce Chen to the mound, he’s 0-6 with a 7.07 ERA, if he’s wondering why the Yankees are such a heavy favorite.

Website design By BotEap.comThe Red Sox visit the Devil Rays in Tampa tonight at 7:15 ET and with Curt Schilling on the mound, they opened as under-$2.30 favorites. Boston dominated the series at Tropicana Field from 2001 to 2004, going 28-10 in that span. However, since the start of last season, the Red Sox have gone 6-10 in Tampa Bay and have lost their last three series there, including both this season.

Website design By BotEap.comCurt Schilling (13-4, 3.84 ERA) has also had his struggles at Tropicana Field this season, losing both of his starts there to account for half of his losses. Meanwhile, Boston’s starting rotation has posted a 2-5 record, a 7.47 ERA and a .342 batting average in its last 11 games. So why are the Red Sox heavy favorites? The answer is Tampa rookie starter James Shields. The right-hander is 0-5 with a 7.26 ERA in his last seven starts after going 4-0 in his first five career starts.

Website design By BotEap.comMinnesota’s Johan Santana (12-5, 3.11 ERA) is 9-3 with a 3.74 ERA in 25 career appearances against the Royals, including 14 starts. He will attempt his 10th career win against the Royals tonight at 8:10 ET, a team that owns the worst overall record in MLB (38-70) and is just 8-22 against starters. lefties this season. Mark Redman (7-6, 5.40) goes for KC and the Twins have had little trouble hitting Redman. He lasted just 1 2-3 innings in a 7-3 loss to Minnesota on April 27, allowing six hits and five runs. Redman is 0-3 with a 6.14 ERA in seven career starts against the Twins.

Website design By BotEap.comNFL ratings

Website design By BotEap.comThe 2006 NFL preseason kicks off Sunday night from Canton, Ohio, with the Hall of Fame Game between the Oakland Raiders and Philadelphia Eagles (8:00 ET on NBC). The Eagles are favored by three points with a total of around 36 or 36 1/2. I’ve been ‘teasing’ the upcoming NFL season all week and will start my countdown to the 2006 season in earnest next week.

Website design By BotEap.comIt’s important to note that fortunes change quickly in the NFL, just as they do in MLB. Consider that since the NFL expanded to 32 teams and two four-division conferences, 21 of the 32 teams have won at least one division title (65.6 percent) and 26 teams (81.3 percent) have made at least one appearance in the playoffs.

Website design By BotEap.comThe six non-playoff entrants these past four years are the Cardinals (who last made the postseason in ’98), the Bills and Lions who last made the playoffs in ’99, the Saints (who last made the playoffs in ’00) and the Dolphins and Texans. Miami, which incidentally finished the 2005 season on a six-game winning streak, last made the playoffs in 2001, while the expansion Texans are 4-0 in their four years since becoming the No. 32 in the NFL in 2002.

Website design By BotEap.comSpeaking of the playoffs, last year’s 12-team playoff field included seven teams that hadn’t qualified for the postseason in 2004. The league adopted its current 12-team playoff field in the 1990 season and, beginning in 1991, it is not unusual for a year’s playoff team roster to be filled with teams that had not qualified for the postseason the previous year.

Website design By BotEap.comLast year’s total of seven was high, but it was one short of the 2003 playoff season, when eight teams in that year’s postseason field had not qualified for the previous year’s playoffs. The average playoff season (over these last 15 years) has seen their playoff roster filled with an average of 5.67 teams per season that hadn’t made the postseason the previous year. The 1994 season saw only four entrants who did not make the previous year’s playoffs, as five of the six NFC representatives had also been to the 1993 playoffs.

Website design By BotEap.comThe AFC West has been the most volatile division in the league since 2002, as all four teams in that division have won division titles in the past four years. The Raiders won in 2002, the Chiefs in 2003, the Chargers in 2004 and the Broncos last year. The most stable divisions have been the AFC East and South, where the Pats (East) and Colts (South) have each claimed three straight division titles.

Website design By BotEap.comThe Packers had won three straight NFC North titles prior to the 2005 season, as had the Eagles in the NFC East, but both streaks came to an end last year with the Bears 11-5 winning the North (GB had only 4-12). and the Giants 11-5 won the East (Philadelphia was just 6-10).

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