Cora and Niese lift Mets over Nats
Baseball Betting Lines
07/02/2010 - Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Cora drove in three runs to back Jon Niese's solid pitching performance, as the New York Mets held off the Washington Nationals, 5-3, in the second test of a four-game set at Nationals Park.
Niese (6-2) gave up one run on six hits in seven innings. The 23-year-old left-hander also struck out a career-high eight batters en route to winning his fifth straight decision. Niese also had an RBI.
Ike Davis knocked in a run for the Mets, who had lost three of four coming in. David Wright went 3-for-5 with a run scored for the victors.
Josh Willingham hit a solo homer for the Nationals, who have dropped seven of their past nine games. Roger Bernadina and Ian Desmond had an RBI apiece.
Luis Atilano (6-5) got rocked in 3 2/3 frames, allowing five runs on four hits. He also fanned four batters and walked two in the loss.
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gio Gonzalez scattered five hits over 6 2/3 innings and pitched the surging A's to a 3-0 win over Cleveland to open a three-game series. Gonzalez (7-5) won for the first time in five starts coming
<< Hawley moves in front in Edmonton
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Hawley posted a two-under 69 on Friday
to move atop the leaderboard after the second round of the ATB Financial
Classic.
Hawley finished 36 holes at seven-under 135 and he is one stroke clea
<< Scherzer strong on mound as Tigers topple Mariners
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Johnny Damon hit a two-run home run and Max
Scherzer worked eight innings to help the Detroit Tigers take a 7-1 win over
the Seattle Mariners in the opener of a three-game set.
Scherzer (5-6) won his th
<< Wakefield, Red Sox edge Orioles
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Nava's pinch-hit single with two outs in
the eighth inning drove in the winning run in Boston's 3-2 comeback victory
over the Orioles in the opener of a three-game set.
J.D. Drew hit a pair of home
<< 'Quakes Busch hopes to get second start vs. United
Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Earthquakes have had steady
goalkeeping all season with Joe Cannon between the pipes.
But with former Chicago Fire 'keeper Jon Busch getting his first start last
weekend in a scoreless
Irving, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Tech football coach Tommy Tuberville was issued a public reprimand by the Big 12 Conference on Friday for comments he made during a radio interview. Tuberville said on Rivals Radio, "I don't think this
Earnhardt Jr. wins Daytona Nationwide race in famous No.3 car >>
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dale Earnhardt Jr. continued the
Earnhardt family tradition of winning at Daytona International Speedway, as he
drove his father's famous No.3 Chevrolet into victory lane after taking
Friday'
Varitek, Delcarmen latest Red Sox players to land on DL >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox, who have been beset by
injuries throughout the course of the season, have placed catcher Jason
Varitek on the 15-day disabled list with a minimally displaced fracture of the
second
Rockies down reeling Giants >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jonathan Herrera lifted the go-ahead sacrifice
fly in the sixth inning and drove in three runs, as Colorado topped the San
Francisco Giants, 6-3, in the second installment of a four-game series.
Jhoulys Ch
Garcia, Cards blank Brewers >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jaime Garcia threw seven shutout innings and
Tyler Greene homered in St. Louis' 5-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in the
second portion of a four-game series.
Garcia (8-4) surrendered three hits, walked
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.
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