Bruce's homer lifts Reds over Braves in 10th; Griffey hits No. 599
Baseball Betting Lines
05/31/2008 - Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jay Bruce made his first major-league home run a game-winner, lifting the Cincinnati Reds to an 8-7 victory in 10 innings over the Atlanta Braves in the middle contest of a three-game set.
Ken Griffey Jr. blasted his 599th career home run, doubled and drove in three runs. But Bruce, who continued his hot start with three hits and a walk, stole the show.
Manny Acosta started the 10th with a strikeout of Jerry Hairston Jr., but Bruce followed by taking Acosta's pitch deep to right, giving the Reds their second consecutive extra-inning win. Cincinnati edged Atlanta on Friday, 3-2, in 11 innings.
Bruce's blast made a winner of Francisco Cordero (2-0), who entered for the 10th and allowed a leadoff single to Josh Anderson, but worked around it and got Mark Teixeira to line out to end the inning. Acosta (3-2) took the loss.
The Reds were only in position to win the game in extra innings because of a ninth-inning tally. Rafael Soriano walked Adam Dunn to start the frame, and pinch-runner Ryan Freel moved to third on a one-out single from Joey Votto.
David Ross grounded weakly to Soriano, who looked the runner back, but Freel raced home anyway as Soriano flipped to first for the out.
Teixeira then went home with a throw, but wasn't able to get Freel, who was safe and tied the game at 7-7. Braves manager Bobby Cox was ejected arguing the call, and the teams went to the 10th inning.
The Reds have now won four of five, despite a shaky start from Josh Fogg, who lasted only 3 1/3 innings and gave up six runs on seven hits and two walks.
Braves starter Jair Jurrjens didn't fare much better, as he also allowed six runs, on nine hits and six walks in just 4 1/3 innings.
Jeff Francoeur, Teixeira and Greg Norton added home runs for the Braves. Chipper Jones had two hits and three walks to raise his MLB-best average to .413 for Atlanta, which has dropped four of five.
The Reds wasted no time in getting to Jurrjens in the first. Bruce smacked a one-out single to center followed by Griffey's 599th home run, a line shot into the seats in right. Brandon Phillips followed that by cranking a homer to left, his 11th of the season.
Atlanta answered in the second by cutting the Reds' lead to one. Francoeur looped a lead-off single to left, and Norton took a full-count slider to the seats in right-center to bring the Braves within 3-2.
Cincinnati came right back in the home half, leading off with back-to-back singles from Hairston and Bruce. Hairston, who advanced to third on Bruce's knock, scored on a Griffey sacrifice fly. Edwin Encarnacion lined a two-out single to left three batters later, giving the Reds a 5-2 lead.
But Atlanta again fired back and tied the game in the third. Kelly Johnson took a leadoff double to right and Jones followed with a walk. Teixeira then clobbered a three-run shot to dead center to even things up.
Jurrjens helped himself in the fourth, leading off with a triple to right. Johnson brought him in with a one-out single off the newly inserted Jeremy Affeldt.
One inning later Jurrjens was in trouble, loading the bases on a single, double and a walk with one out. Hairston moved the runners along with a single to knot things up at 6-6 and chase Jurrjens from the game.
Royce Ring came on and induced a double-play groundout from Bruce to end the threat.
Francoeur broke open a tie game in the seventh, greeting David Weathers with a line-drive homer to right-center to start the frame.
Game Notes
Griffey remains 10 shy of Sammy Sosa (609) for fifth on the all-time home run list and looks to become only the sixth player ever to reach 600...The Reds took six of seven contests from Atlanta last season...Bobby Cox was ejected for the third time this season...Hairston extended his hitting streak to eight games...Jurrjens' six walks were a career-high.
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Sportsbooks to bet on football
Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.
He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.
"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.
He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.
Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.
Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.
Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.
Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.
With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.
Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).
And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)
The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.
While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.
Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.
One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.
Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.
What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.
That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.
MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.
"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.
"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."
So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.
In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.
MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.
The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.
Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.
MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.
To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year
Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.
Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.
With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.
Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.
Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.
Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to bet on the NBA. With the regular season about to hit the homestretch, it is important to point out that MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.