King Felix goes for M's in series capper with Tribe
Baseball Betting Lines
09/05/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Felix Hernandez will attempt to atone for a recent loss to the Cleveland Indians and help the Seattle Mariners earn a split of a four- game series with that above-mentioned opponent when the ace pitcher toes the rubber this afternoon at Safeco Field.
Hernandez's only setback over his past five starts took place against the Indians in Cleveland on August 15. The All-Star right-hander had a shutout after six innings of that contest, but was tagged for six runs -- all of which were unearned due to an error by teammate Chone Figgins -- in the seventh and served up a game-breaking grand slam to the Tribe's Travis Hafner.
The 24-year-old has bounced back quite well from that performance, however. Hernandez yielded just two runs -- one earned -- over a combined 15 1/3 innings in back-to-back road victories over the New York Yankees and Boston in his next two starts, then delivered seven scoreless frames in a tough-luck no- decision against the Angels on Tuesday.
Over his last five assignments, Hernandez has let up a mere one earned run and struck out 47 batters over 37 innings while posting a 3-1 record. His 2.38 ERA and 200 strikeouts for the season are both the second-best marks in the American League.
The native Venezuelan, who sports a 2.29 ERA at Safeco Field this year, is 3-3 with a 3.22 ERA in five career starts against the Indians.
Cleveland has won two of the first three tests of this September set between last-place teams and came through with a 4-2 decision on Saturday behind 6 2/3 strong innings from starting pitcher Mitch Talbot (9-11). The rookie right- hander yielded just one unearned run and struck out six Mariners to end a nine-start winless streak in which he went 0-5.
"It was nice to see Talbot come back and have a good outing," Indians manager Manny Acta said. "He's been struggling a little bit since he came back from the DL. [Saturday] he was very good, threw a lot of first pitch strikes, had that good changeup and a good cutter and gave us seven solid innings."
Cleveland gave Talbot an early cushion by scoring four unanswered runs off Seattle starter David Pauley over the game's first four innings, with Hafner, Asdrubral Cabrera, Shin-Soo Choo and Michael Brantley all coming through with RBI singles.
Pauley (2-7) did last six innings and surrendered the four runs on seven hits while striking out five.
"I think Pauley wasn't as sharp as he has been," said Mariners manager Daren Brown. "I thought he left some pitches in the middle of the plate, he had trouble getting his breaking balls over early and they just sat on the fastball and took the sinker away from him."
Ex-Indian Russell Branyan had a solo homer for Seattle, his second of the series, and finished 2-for-3 in Saturday's loss.
Acta will hand the ball to Jeanmar Gomez in this afternoon's finale, with the rookie filling in for originally-scheduled starter Justin Masterson due to the latter having to attend to a family matter.
Gomez has made seven starts for the Indians this season and gone 3-2 with a very respectable 3.08 ERA, though he's 0-2 with a 5.52 ERA over his last three times out. The young right-hander did pitch decent in an August 28 matchup against Kansas City, allowing two runs on six hits over 5 2/3 innings while not receiving a decision in his team's 4-3 win.
This will be the first-ever appearance against Seattle for Gomez, who's just 1-2 with a 5.79 ERA in three starts on the road this year.
Though these teams have split six meetings this season, Cleveland has taken seven of its last eight games against the Mariners held in Safeco Field.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It is starting to appear as if the Cincinnati Reds are headed towards their first National League Central title since 1995. Today, they try to put even more distance between themselves and the St. Louis Cardinals, as they
<< Happ goes for Astros in the desert
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Newly-minted Astro lefty J.A. Happ can make it five wins in
seven decisions with Houston today when they visit Chase Field to close out a
three-game weekend series with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Arizona won Friday's opener
<< Rockies try to pin 10th straight loss on reeling Padres
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres try to avoid their worst losing streak
in more than 16 years this afternoon when they play the finale of their three-
game series with the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park.
San Diego has been baseball's
<< Giants, Dodgers play rubber match at Chavez Ravine
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hiroki Kuroda nearly threw a no-hitter in his last trip to
the hill. Tonight, the Los Angeles Dodgers will settle for a win, as they
play the rubber match of their three-game set against the San Francisco Giants
at Dodgers St
<< Wilson, Rangers hope to avoid sweep in Minnesota
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hoping to avoid a series sweep at the hands of the
Minnesota Twins, the Texas Rangers may have the right pitcher on the mound
today to accomplish that goal.
C.J. Wilson will attempt to register his eighth consecutive winni
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles recalled pitcher Chris Tillman to start Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays. Tillman last pitched in the majors on July 19, when he gave up eight runs in 2 2/3 innings to the Rays
Davies wins for third time in Austria >>
Wiener Neustadt, Austria (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Laura Davies carded a two-under 70
Sunday to earn a one-stroke win at the Uniqa Ladies Golf Open.
Davies, who won this title for the third time, finished at 11-under-par 205.
The victory was Davi
Wattel becomes second amateur winner in 2010 on Challenge Tour >>
La Wantzenau, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Amateur Romain Wattel closed with
a five-under 67 Sunday to collect a three-stroke win at the Allianz
Europen Strasbourg-Golf de la Wantzenau.
Wattel finished the event at 17-under-par 271.
In the FCS Huddle: Major upsets don't make the other games minor >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There are no ifs, ands or buts about it,
when a Football Championship Subdivision team upsets a major-conference team,
it deserves to be in the spotlight as much as any other team across the
nation.
Think
A-Rod in Yankees' lineup >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is in
Sunday's lineup, batting fourth against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Rodriguez, who last played on August 20 against Seattle, suffered a strained
left calf that for
Betting Football
NFL Football Betting OnlineIs there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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