Latos tries to end Padres 10-game slide in meeting with Dodgers

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09/06/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- Mat Latos' quick emergence into a frontline pitcher is a big reason why the San Diego Padres have stood atop the National League West for the majority of the 2010 campaign. With his team mired in by far their worst stretch of the season, the talented youngster will try to play the role of stopper when the slumping Padres begin an important three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight at Petco Park.

San Diego had owned a seemingly-comfortable 6 1/2-game lead on second-place San Francisco in the division standings as of August 25, but the margin has dwindled down to a single game due to an untimely 10-game losing streak that was extended with Sunday's 4-2 setback to Colorado. It's the club's longest skid since it dropped a franchise-worst 13 in a row from May 8-21, 1994.

"We've got to turn this around cause there is a lot of baseball yet to be played," said San Diego manager Bud Black after yesterday's game. "I've said it before, it's in us cause I've seen it, but we haven't done it the last 10 games."

While the Padres are still in good position for making the playoffs, history isn't on their side. Only two teams -- the 1951 New York Giants and 1982 Atlanta Braves -- have advanced to the postseason after losing 10 straight contests or more that year.

San Diego had tied Sunday's tilt at 2-2 on Miguel Tejada's two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning, but the Rockies went back in front on Melvin Mora's two-RBI single off reliever Tim Stauffer (3-3) in the top of the seventh.

Stauffer recorded just one out after taking over for starter Clayton Richard, who limited Colorado to two runs -- one earned -- while throwing 100 pitches over the first six innings.

Tejada finished 3-for-4 for San Diego, which mustered only seven hits as a team and has totaled a mere 23 runs over the course of its losing streak. The Padres have scored two times or less in seven of those defeats.

Latos hasn't needed a whole lot of support as of late, however, as the right- hander has yielded two runs or fewer in each of his 14 starts and has amassed an 8-1 record with a stellar 1.51 earned run average over that span. He's struck out an impressive 104 batters in 89 1/3 innings during that time period as well.

The 22-year-old hasn't won in either of his past two starts, but was able to keep the Padres in both games before they eventually lost. He held Philadelphia to one run in a seven-inning no-decision on August 27, then permitted one run and four hits while fanning 10 Arizona hitters in just six innings against the Diamondbacks this past Wednesday.

Latos, whose 2.25 ERA for the season is tops in the NL at the moment, hasn't had much luck in past matchups with the Dodgers as well. He's 0-2 in three lifetime starts against Los Angeles despite an overall ERA of 3.21, and was handed a tough 2-1 loss at Dodger Stadium on August 3 after surrendering a pair of runs in six innings.

Los Angeles is in a bit of a rut of its own as well, having lost six of its last eight tilts to all but kill the team's postseason hopes. The Dodgers also had trouble generating offense in their last game, managing only three hits off Jonathan Sanchez and two San Francisco relievers in Sunday's 3-0 defeat to the Giants.

The Dodgers struck out a total of 13 times on the evening, with Sanchez racking out nine punchouts over the game's initial seven innings.

"Sanchez was electric and threw a lot of strikes," said Los Angeles manager Joe Torre. "We've put pressure on our starters because we've given them nothing to work with."

Hiroki Kuroda (10-12) did pitch well for the Dodgers in a losing cause, lasting eight innings and permitting three runs on six hits while registering eight strikeouts. The Japanese righty had allowed just one run over his first six frames before giving up a two-run homer to Juan Uribe in the seventh.

The Padres will have a good chance of ending their slide if Dodgers scheduled starter Vicente Padilla repeats his most recent performance. Against NL East- leading Atlanta on August 15, the veteran was tagged for eight runs and eight hits before exiting after 4 1/3 innings of his team's 13-1 loss. Padilla was placed on the 15-day disabled list the following day due to a bulging disc in his neck.

The right-hander acquitted himself awfully well in an August 4 clash against the Padres, though, with Padilla striking out nine San Diego batters while firing a two-hit shutout at Dodger Stadium that night. The effort improved him to 3-1 with a 2.88 ERA in 18 lifetime appearances against the Padres, nine of which have been starts.

Los Angeles has won seven of its 12 meetings with the Padres this season and are 4-2 in games played at Petco Park between the teams in 2010.

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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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