August 11, 2006 (Los Angeles, CA) ? The Los Angeles Dodgers have finally arrived in the penthouse in the underachieving, wild and wacky NL West division. Led by veteran outfielder Kenny Lofton, who always makes a habit of playing in the playoffs for whatever uniform he seems to put on, LA host Barry and his mates this weekend.



The Dodgers were in first place on June 26th and with the exception of the last few weeks, their record since then of 19-20 is not what you would consider eye-popping. San Francisco on the other hand is spiraling out of control losing 13 of their past 16 and their hitting has been atrocious. Baseball betting has definitely suffered in the Bay.

LA will showcase their last season pickups this weekend as lefty Mark Hendrickson and future Hall of Fame thrower Greg Maddux act as the bookends in the three game tilt. The infield is getting crowded with the addition of Lugo and the return of Jeff Kent and Nomar Garciaparra to the team.

Dodgers will roll this weekend! Place your bets at your favorite sportsbook to win.

The Detroit Tigers head to the south side of Chicago this weekend and can all but wrap up the Central division title with a series win over the White Sox. Chicago has looked exceptional the past week in series? with Toronto and New York and should prove to be rude hosts. Justin Verlander will try and become the majors? first 15 game winner and that is an incredible statistic this late in the season as you would figure on at least a few 20-game winners.

He has been awful against the White Sox going 0-2 with an 11.42 ERA in two starts versus Chicago, allowing 11 runs and 14 hits -- including four homers -- in just 8 2-3 innings. There are concerns about the wear and tear on his arm as he has already logged 135 innings this year and manager Leyland skipped his last start.

The White Sox counter with Jose Contreras (10-4, 3.75) who will try to avoid his fifth loss in six starts since the All-Star break after opening the season 9-0. Contreras tied a season-high by allowing six runs in 6 2-3 innings of Sunday's 7-3 loss at Toronto.

The right-hander has already faced the Tigers three times this season, going 2-1 with a 2.05 ERA in those outings including the June 7 victory over Verlander. He is 7-3 with a 3.30 ERA in 14 career starts versus Detroit.

Take the defending champions if you want a sports betting win.

Bob Acton