Armed with new deal, Carpenter takes the ball in Pittsburgh

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09/13/2011 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - By the time Chris Carpenter takes the hill tonight for the St. Louis Cardinals, it appears he will have a new two-year contract extension under his belt. As the ink dries, he'll be trying to extend his club's playoff chances.

Carpenter looks to get the Cards back into the win column tonight after they suffered a disappointing loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night in the opener of a three-game series.

St. Louis carried a season-best five-game winning streak into last night's game and had won 12 of 16 before suffering a 6-5 loss. The Cardinals led late before the Pirates rallied for three runs in the eighth inning to go ahead.

Pedro Ciriaco hit a two-run double during the big frame and Neil Walker had three hits for the Pirates, who halted a three-game slide.

"He just battled in that at-bat," said Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle about Ciriaco. "He's continuing to grow and has worked hard to make the right adjustments. It was a big moment for him and I'm happy for him."

Albert Pujols drove in three runs, two on his 35th homer of the season, but couldn't prevent St. Louis from falling 6 1/2 games behind idle Milwaukee for first place in the National League Central. The Brewers did stay 4 1/2 games behind the wild card-leading Braves after their loss to Florida on Monday.

The Cardinals had won four of their previous five over the Pirates, but have now split 14 meetings with them this season.

"It's tough and it's going to happen from time to time," said starter Kyle Lohse. "We just have to come back out here tomorrow and try to win the series."

The first step is evening the set tonight and the Cardinals will try to do that behind Carpenter, who will reportedly receive a contract extension as early as today. The move comes after one of Carpenter's best starts of the season, a four-hit shutout of the Brewers on Wednesday.

"I'm not going to say yes or no," Carpenter told St. Louis' website of the possible extension. "There's obviously something going on, but it's not 100- percent done yet, and I don't want to jinx it."

The right-hander had allowed six runs in each of his previous two outings before shutting down the Brewers. It was his first shutout in exactly two years and 14th of his career, evening his season record to 9-9 with a 3.75 earned run average in 30 starts.

"I don't even know what the numbers are, I just know tonight was an important game to win," Carpenter said. "We're going to go out all the way to the end."

One of Carpenter's recent rough outings was against Pittsburgh on Aug. 27, when he gave up six runs over five innings of a loss. It was just the 36-year- old's third defeat in 15 career decisions against the Pirates and he still has a solid 2.64 career ERA against them.

Jeff Karstens will make his return to the hill tonight after having his last two starts skipped due to arm soreness and fatigue. He hasn't started since Aug. 28, when he was touched for five runs on nine hits and two walks over 3 2/3 innings of work versus the Cardinals. The righty gave up three runs in the first inning and a pair of RBI singles to Ryan Theriot in the game.

Karstens, 28, is 9-8 with a 3.32 ERA on the season and 1-2 with a 3.49 ERA against the Cardinals lifetime.

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Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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Colts give the ‘D’ its due

The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.

They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.

"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."

Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.

New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.

Not so sound on the ground

If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com

“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.

Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.

Brees says bring it on

Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.

Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.

Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.

"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."

SportsBooks ready for a shootout

Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.

“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”

New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.

The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.

“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

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