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07/26/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez's quest for his 600th career home run resumes on the road this evening, when the superstar third baseman and his New York Yankee teammates start up a seven-game trek with the first of four consecutive meetings with the Cleveland Indians from Progressive Field.
Rodriguez, vying to become the seventh player in major league history to reach the 600-homer milestone, has failed to go deep in three straight contests since belting No. 599 in a 10-4 home victory over Kansas City on Thursday. The three-time American League MVP has still been productive at the plate, however, and had a hand in yesterday's 10-4 win over the Royals by collecting a pair of hits and knocking in three runs.
The perennial All-Star had an RBI double and a run-scoring single in the win, and got his final RBI of the day when he was in struck in the left hand and wrist by a pitch with the bases loaded in the eighth inning. Rodriguez did leave the game afterward, but is expected to be okay for tonight's matchup.
Rodriguez went 8-for-17 and drove in seven runs during the four-game series with the Royals, in which New York won three times, and is batting .400 (12- for-30) with 10 RBI over his last seven outings.
Curtis Granderson provided the power for the Yankees in Sunday's triumph, belting a pair of solo homers and scoring three times. Robinson Cano added two hits and a pair of RBI and Derek Jeter went 3-for-4 with a run-scoring double to help starter Phil Hughes register his 12th victory of the season.
Hughes (12-3) allowed three runs via a pair of Kansas City homers over the first 5 1/3 innings, exiting after the game was held up for over 2 1/2 hours by heavy rain in the top of the sixth.
"I can do a lot better. I felt like I was starting to get into a groove a little bit when the rains came," Hughes said afterward. "I was kind of disappointed, but it was a step in the right direction and I'll just look to improve."
Rodriguez owns a .375 (9-for-24) average with one career homer against Jake Westbrook, who'll be taking the mound tonight for perhaps the final time in a Cleveland uniform. The veteran right-hander has been the subject of trade rumors as Saturday's non-waiver deadline approaches.
Westbrook has drawn some interest from contending clubs with a decent bounce- back season after missing all of the 2009 campaign and most of 2008 recovering from elbow surgery. The 32-year-old has posted a respectable 6-6 record with a 4.74 ERA in 20 starts for the AL Central cellar-dwelling Tribe and has tossed at least six innings in six of his past eight trips to the mound.
He wasn't overly sharp his last time out, however, issuing a season-high five walks and surrendering four runs over six frames in a loss at Minnesota this past Wednesday. Westbrook had won his initial start following the All-Star break after holding Detroit to two runs in 5 2/3 innings back on July 16.
The one-time Yankee will be taking on his former club for the first time since the 2007 AL Division Series and has a 2-4 record with a 5.29 ERA in 10 regular-season appearances (seven starts) versus New York.
The Yankees, who enter this series with a three-game lead on Tampa Bay for first place in the AL East, will hand the ball to Javier Vazquez in the opener. The offseason acquisition has pitched well for the Bronx Bombers after a rough beginning to the season, as he's compiled a 5-2 record with a 3.10 ERA in nine starts since June 1.
Vazquez wasn't real good in his most recent assignment, though, despite picking up his eighth win of the season. The right-hander allowed five runs and a pair of homers in a five-inning stint against the Angels on Wednesday, but received a wealth of offensive support in a 10-6 verdict.
The 34-year-old has yet to face the Indians this season but has plenty of experience against them, having spent three years with fellow AL Central member Chicago from 2006-08. Vazquez is 7-5 with a 4.40 ERA over 16 lifetime starts against Cleveland and is 4-3 with a 3.98 ERA in nine Progressive Field appearances.
The Indians will be continuing a seven-game homestand that began with Friday's 4-2 victory over Tampa Bay. The playoff-hopeful Rays rebounded to win the next two bouts, however, and claimed a 4-2 decision in Sunday's rubber match.
Tribe starter Justin Masterson (3-9) gave up all four Tampa runs (three earned), three of which came on a Reid Brignac homer in the top of the second inning. He lasted 6 1/3 frames and permitted just five hits while striking out five.
"I look at it as a slider that forgot to slide," Masterson said about the pitch to Brignac. "It turned out to be a terrible cutter like 85 (miles per hour)."
Travis Hafner went 4-for-4 at the plate for Cleveland, with Carlos Santana and Andy Marte driving in the team's only runs.
New York took three of four games from the Indians at Yankee Stadium back in May and has prevailed in seven of the last nine clashes between the teams. In their only visit to Cleveland last season, the Yankees won three of four tests from the Tribe.
<< Appalachian State, Villanova stars headline All-America team
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Appalachian State may have lost two-time
Walter Payton Award winner Armanti Edwards, but it boasts a national-best
seven players on The Sportsbook Betting Lines/Fathead.com Football Championship
Subdivision Preseason A
<< Phillies go for four-game sweep of Rockies
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies will try to complete a four-game
sweep of the Colorado Rockies this afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.
Philadelphia won its fourth straight game on Sunday, as Jimmy Rollins tied the
contest and then
<< Angels get Dan Haren and a tree falls in the forest
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yawn.
That is exactly the first thought that went through my head when my I-Phone
beeped on Sunday night with the news that the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim had
acquired Dan Haren from the Arizona Diamondbacks for Joe Sau
<< Former free agent pitching bust having a big season
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - CC Sabathia, Carl Pavano, Justin Verlander,
David Price, John Lester. Tell me which name doesn't belong on this list.
If you said Carl Pavano, you normally wouldn't get much of an argument, at
least until this
Wounded Tigers kick off road trip versus Rays >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers begin what could be a make-or-break
week-long road trip for the American League Central contenders tonight at
Tropicana Field, where the struggling and injury-plagued club takes on the
Tampa Bay Rays in a c
Reds head to Milwaukee to battle surging Brewers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds try to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers for
the seventh straight time when the National League Central rivals open a
three-game set this evening at Miller Park.
The Reds, who swept a two-game set from the B
Twins, Liriano aim to keep rolling in Kansas City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins had everything working on Sunday as
they pulled even closer to the top spot in the American League Central.
They'll try to continue that tonight behind Francisco Liriano, who seeks a
third straight winn
ChiSox seeking to get back on track at Mariners' expense >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A subpar road trip has tightened things atop the American
League Central for the first-place Chicago White Sox. A return home against a
favorable opponent could help the club get back on track.
Chicago seeks a fifth consec
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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