White Sox stretch home win streak to eight
Baseball Betting Lines
07/26/2010 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Danks tossed eight innings of one-run ball, and Juan Pierre went 3-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI, as the White Sox returned to U.S. Cellular Field with a 6-1 win over Seattle.
Chicago, coming off an unsuccessful 4-6 road trip, extended their home winning streak to eight games in large part due to Danks (11-7), who scattered six hits and a walk to win his fourth consecutive start.
Paul Konerko added a solo home run and Alexi Ramirez had three hits, scored a run and drove in another in the victory.
Felix Hernandez (7-7) was touched for four runs on nine hits and three walks over seven frames, the ninth straight outing the right-handed ace has lasted at least that long for the Mariners, who were looking for their first three- game winning streak this month.
Seattle scored in the third inning when Michael Saunders doubled down the left-field line and came around two batters later on Jack Wilson's base hit.
The White Sox, though, scored two in the bottom half to go in front for good. Ramirez singled and stole second with two outs before Pierre slapped a run- scoring base hit up the middle, ending Hernandez's scoreless streak against Chicago at 25 innings.
Omar Vizquel added an RBI single to right for a 2-1 game, and the hosts scored two more in the sixth, the first coming on Konerko's 22nd homer of the year.
After Ichiro Suzuki stole a home run away from Mark Kotsay with a perfectly- timed jump at the right-field wall, A.J. Pierzynski and Ramirez recorded back- to-back doubles to make it 4-1.
Pierzynski tacked on a sacrifice fly in the eighth off Brian Sweeney to plate Andruw Jones, pinch-running for Carlos Quentin, and Pierre ended the scoring by singling home Brent Lillibridge.
Danks was pulled to start the ninth after throwing 95 pitches, and Sergio Santos hurled a 1-2-3 ninth to finish it off.
Game Notes
Pierre also recorded his 36th stolen base of the year...Suzuki had two of Seattle's six hits...Gordon Beckham was the only White Sox starter held without a hit...In the second game of this four-game set on Tuesday, Seattle's Ryan Rowland-Smith matches up against Gavin Floyd.
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Cubs catcher Geovany Soto left Monday's game against the Astros with a bruised left foot. Soto grounded out to lead off the top of the sixth but did not come out to take his position defe
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at Tropicana Field.
Garza (11-5) walked one, struck out six and faced the minimum
<< Blue Jays continue domination of O's
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Hill added a two-run shot and knocked in three, as the Toronto Blue Jays
earned a 9-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles in the first of a three-game set
at Roge
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Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Curtis Granderson hit a go-ahead two-run
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meetings with the Cleveland Indians, 3-2, at Progressive Field.
Nick Swisher added
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Milwaukee edged Cincinnati, 3-2, at Miller Park.
The Brewers, winners of five in
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Theriot finished with a pair of hits and Alfonso
Mauer, Valencia highlight Twins' demolition of Royals >>
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two
Betting the NFL preseason
Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."
When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules.
The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.
The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.
“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”
The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.
“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”
The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.
“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”
Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.
“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."
So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?
“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.
Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.
Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.
Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.
“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.
Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.
The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.
“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.
Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
El Duque expected to throw Tuesday
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.
Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.
El Duque's health is a major issue for the Mets, who won the NL East in 2007 and came within one victory of the World Series. Their aging and unsettled rotation is a big question mark this year.
MySportsbook.com has the Mets as -110 favorites to repeat as NL East champions odds.
Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.
New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until at least midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Jason Vargas, plus veterans Chan Ho Park, Jorge Sosa and Aaron Sele.
Notes: Mets manager Willie Randolph is excited about two new utility players he could have on his bench: Damion Easley and David Newhan. ''Their value is really all over the place,'' Randolph said. Easley can play anywhere in the infield and could be used as an emergency outfielder, though Randolph said he would prefer to keep the veteran in the infield. Newhan, meanwhile, can play second base, third or any outfield position for the Mets. ''I love versatility,'' Randolph said. ''I love guys that can give me options when I need them to step in.''
Additional baseball lines and World Series odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
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