Two of the National League’s best pitchers will face each other on Wednesday night when the Diamondbacks play host to the Padres. Here’s your Daily Sports Roundup . . .

Non-sports event of the day….

The partisans are in the attack mode. Whether it’s the Dave Matthews Band, Keith Olbermann, and Rosanne Barr wingnuts on the far left, or the Obama Nation and Michael Savage Kool-Aid drinkers on the extreme right, the vitriol is about to be taken to the next level. It must be time to announce the Vice Presidential candidates.

Media reports are saying Hillary Clinton is likely out as the Obama running mate, and Joe Lieberman may now be the favorite to lead a bipartisan ticket with John McCain

The condition of Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones is likely to delay the Obama VP announcement.

Oh and don’t forget to compare the latest Zogby poll numbers with the presidential betting odds and Itrade tracking on the political betting odds page. Zogby now has McCain taking the lead.

Hollywood and entertainment betting…

Grace Jones has a new album. Look for BetUs Sportsbook to come up with odds as far as how many records she will sell.

The Java Girls, Nishita Shah and Paraguay javelin thrower Leryn Franco top (and in some cases topless) our list of official OffshoreInsiders.com hotties.  Meg Simpson gets runner-up.

Betting events of the day…

Are you more in debt than Rachel Roy and Ed McMahon combined? You are not betting with the world’s best sports handicapping advice if so.

GodsTips: We sweep Wise Guy plays again, including remaining 100 percent this year with Wise Guy runline plays. We have seven winners in all, six are sides and we hint there may be a Dandy Dog or more along the way. Dandy dogs are moneyline dogs of 140 or more (includes runline getting back 140 or more). All seven plays are night action.

MasterLockLine: Well, well, well. We told you Jared Lindsey is the etched-in-stone best late season handicapper in the world. He’s now the No. 1 MLB handicapper for the month of August in no small part to the Upset of the Year on Houston +215 winning last night. You know it’s legit because you got it right here.  National League Upset Parlay of the Year goes from the top late-season tipster in the world.

The featured play on a respected Las Vegas based website has their hottest handicapper up with his MLB Parlay of the Year on the Cubs and Tampa. You know it’s legit because you got it right here.  Now his 3 Team Parlay of the Year and he’s selling it for $39.95. Click now to purchase

Event of the day . . .

The Padres are going nowhere this season, even in the weak NL West division. That hasn’t helped ace Jake Peavy in the win-loss column, as he’s 9-8 overall and the team is just 4-6 in his last 10 trips to the mound. However, the righthander gave up more than three earned runs in just one of those 10 contests, lowering his ERA on the season to 2.61. Peavy faced the Diamondbacks back on July 5, and took no chances in securing the win – he held Arizona scoreless on three hits over seven innings.

Peavy’s opponent in Wednesday night’s contest will be D-Backs second banana Dan Haren, who pitches in the shadow of Cy Young candidate Brandon Webb. Haren has picked up the victory in four of his last five starts, and he’s coming off a strong outing against the Rockies (two earned runs on seven hits over eight innings) which lowered his ERA to only 2.96. The righthander took on the Padres on July 4 and was the hard-luck loser after allowing just two earned runs on seven hits over seven innings.

Non-event of the day . . .

We go from Peavy vs. Haren to . . . Robertson vs. Millwood. Detroit‘s Nate Robertson is 7-9 on the season with a 5.87 ERA, while Texas‘ Kevin Millwood is 6-7 with a 5.58 ERA so far this year. Those two veteran hurlers will try to keep the ball in the park on Wednesday night when the Rangers host the Tigers. Detroit has lost six of Robertson’s past 10 outings, and Texas has taken the loss in each of Millwood’s past four starts.

Also on the schedule . . .

Minnesota‘s Francisco Liriano (3-3, 4.97 ERA) will try to add to Oakland‘s woes when he takes on Dallas Braden (3-2, 4.50 ERA) on Wednesday night. Also on the American League schedule: Seattle at the White Sox, Boston at Baltimore, Kansas City at Cleveland, the Yankees at Toronto, and the Angels at Tampa Bay.

The Mets and Braves will clash in New York on Wednesday, with Mike Pelfrey (11-8, 3.91 ERA) going up against Jair Jurrjens (11-8, 3.15 ERA). Other National League games on the day: Houston at Milwaukee, Washington at Philadelphia, Cincinnati at the Cubs, Pittsburgh at St. Louis, Colorado at the Dodgers, and Florida at San Francisco.

News from the wire . . .

The Dodgers bolstered their starting rotation by picking up Greg Maddux from the Padres; the future Hall of Fame righthander went 6-9 with a 3.99 ERA for San Diego this season . . . the Bengals decided to re-sign troubled wide receiver Chris Henry, who is suspended until Week 5 of the regular season; Henry’s signing gives the team some insurance in case Chad Johnson’s shoulder injury is worse than first reported.

Peek at the future . . .

Maddux had been scheduled to pitch for the Padres against the D-Backs on Thursday; instead they’ll have to find someone else to take on Brandon Webb (18-4, 2.85 ERA) . . . Kyle Orton has been named the Bears’ starting QB, and he’ll lead the team into their preseason contest against the Niners on Thursday . . . the PGA Tour’s playoffs begin with The Barclays at Ridgewood Country Club in New Jersey on Thursday morning.

A battle of American League division leaders is on tap for Tuesday night as the Tampa Bay Rays play host to the Los Angeles Angels. Here’s your Daily Sports Roundup . . .

Last chance to bet on Vice Presidential choices…

Several media outlets are reporting that Barack Obama will announce his running mate by Thursday and John McCain will follow up by next Monday. It’s time to make your choice (political betting odds).

Mitt Romney remains the GOP frontrunner according to the Las Vegas odds for Vice President. Romeny is 5/6, followed by Tim Pawlenty at 3/1 and Charlie Crist at 7/1.

Anticipating an immediate announcement, many sportsbooks have taken down odds on the Democratic side. However, BetUs Sportsbook has a state-by-state breakdown on each candidate’s odds of winning.

Olympic betting odds…

While Michael Phelps and Alicia Sacramone are the darlings of Madison Avenue, Olympic bettors had mixed results recently. Sacramone is the foxio of Roxio, a digital software company that just started Photoshow.

Offshore oddsmakers are reporting big steam bets on kayaker Katalin Kovacs of Hungary, US track athlete Lolo Jones, American pole vaulter Jenn Stuczynski, American gymnast Nastia Liukin (the darling of announcer Tim Daggett, and table tennis sensation David Zhuang.

Henry Cejudo bettors won big at the online casinos as the American won the gold in freestyle wrestling at 55 kilos. Bulgaria‘s Jordan Jovtchev was a betting favorite who came up short in gymnastics.  

Event of the day . . .

The Angels are running away with the AL West title this season – unless the Rangers can find some consistency Los Angeles will likely be the only team in that division that ends up above the .500 mark. The Rays find themselves a little more challenged from the likes of the Red Sox (and potentially the Yankees) in the AL East race, but they’ve already managed to set the franchise mark for victories in a single season.

James Shields (10-7, 3.75 ERA) will get the ball for Tampa Bay on Tuesday night, and the Rays have picked up the win in each of his last three outings. In fact, Tampa Bay is 8-2 over Shields’ last 10 trips to the mound. The righthander has faced Los Angeles twice already this season, getting knocked around for earned six runs in a loss on June 10, and tossing nine shutout, one-hit innings in a win back on May 9.

Ervin Santana (13-5, 3.49 ERA) will start for the Angels. The righthander is coming off a no-decision versus the Mariners in which he gave up three earned runs on seven hits over 6 1-3 innings of work. Santana had won each of his previous two starts, and Los Angeles is 6-4 over his past 10 outings. Santana faced the Rays back on May 11, giving up five earned runs on nine hits over 5 2-3 innings to get tagged with the loss.

Non-event of the day . . .

The Royals and the Indians will continue their fight for fourth place in the AL Central when they hook up in Cleveland on Tuesday night. Kansas City is scheduled to send Luke Hochevar (6-11, 5.44 ERA) to the mound in that contest, while Cleveland will counter with Anthony Reyes (1-1, 2.19 ERA). Reyes was picked up from the Cardinals to provide a stop-gap for the Tribe’s rotation through the end of their wasted season.

Also on the schedule . . .

Daisuke Matsuzaka (14-2, 2.74 ERA) will look to pitch the Red Sox past the Orioles on the road on Tuesday. Other American League matchups on the schedule: the Yankees at Toronto, Detroit at Texas, Oakland at Minnesota, and Seattle at the White Sox.

There’s also a full slate of National League games on Tuesday, highlighted by the Brian Moehler (8-4, 3.97 ERA) / Ben Sheets (11-6, 3.00 ERA) duel in the Astros/Brewers matchup. Also on the Senior Circuit schedule: Washington at Philadelphia, Atlanta at the Mets, Cincinnati at the Cubs, Pittsburgh at St. Louis, Colorado at the Dodgers, and Florida at San Francisco.

News from the wire . . .

Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson hurt his shoulder on Sunday night but is expected to be ready to play when Week 1 of the regular season rolls around . . . Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson is expected to make his preseason debut for the team on Friday; he’s been out with a groin injury . . .Tigers reliever Todd Jones went right back on the disabled list on Sunday . . . the Nationals traded reliever Luis Ayala to the Mets.

Peek at the future . . .

It’ll be Jered Weaver (10-9, 4.47 ERA) taking on Matt Garza (10-7, 3.63 ERA) in the Angels/Rays game on Wednesday night . . . the USA men’s hoops teams will compete against the Australians in the quarterfinal round of the Olympic tournament early on Wednesday morning; the semifinals of the tourney will then take place on Friday morning, with the gold medal game set to be played at 2:30am ET on August 24.