 |
 Basketball Betting |
 |
||||
|
 |
||||
|
||||
Red Sox blow lead, but top Mariners in 13 inningsBaseball Betting Lines07/23/2010 - Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Patterson's two-run double in the 13th inning lifted the Red Sox to a wild 8-6 win over the Seattle Mariners to open a four-game series. Boston's John Lackey came within four outs of a no-hitter, but the Mariners eventually rallied for five runs in the ninth to force extra innings. Bill Hall and J.D. Drew each hit two-run homers, while Marco Scutaro added a solo shot as the Red Sox snapped a two-game skid. Seattle loaded the bases with one out in the 12th inning, but came up empty as Jose Lopez fouled out to first and Milton Bradley popped out to former Mariner Adrian Beltre at third. Kevin Youkilis led off the 13th with an infield single. Beltre nearly homered in the next at-bat, but yanked the ball barely foul down the left field line. He ended up popping out. Drew flied out to left, but Mike Cameron walked and Patterson doubled to the gap in left-center off Garrett Olson (0-3) to provide the Red Sox with the lead. "Runner in scoring position, you're just trying to get a base hit, you're not trying to do too much," Patterson said. "(Olson) threw me a couple breaking balls. I was just able to stay on the last one and found some grass in the outfield." Hideki Okajima (3-2) pitched a pair of innings for the win and Ramon Ramirez recorded his second save. Franklin Gutierrez, the hero in a 2-1, 11-inning win over the White Sox on Wednesday, belted a two-run homer in the ninth inning off Manny Delcarmen, but the Mariners lost for the seventh time in nine contests. Ryan Rowland-Smith permitted eight hits and five runs over six innings in the start for the Mariners. Lackey gave up two hits, an unearned run, walked one and fanned six batters. He retired 16 batters in a row before Josh Bard looped a base hit to right- center field to break up the no-hit bid. Jack Wilson singled to right field, but Ichiro Suzuki lined out to end the inning, keeping Boston up 6-1. "You think about (the no-hitter) a little bit, you obviously know it's going on, but it's not something that you're really focused on, you just want to win the game." Lackey said. "We won the game, that makes things a lot better for sure, but it's definitely one of the weirdest no-decisions that I've had." Delcarmen had trouble closing out the game in the ninth, an inning in which the Red Sox committed a pair of errors. Chone Figgins singled to center and Gutierrez homered to left. Lopez walked, and Bradley then grounded a ball up the middle off of Scutaro's glove to put two runners on base. Jonathan Papelbon entered, but couldn't stop the bleeding. He fanned Justin Smoak, but Casey Kotchman stroked an RBI double down the right field line. Bard walked to load the bases and Wilson grounded a ball up the middle that should have turned into a game-ending double-play. Scutaro flipped to Hall for the out at second, but the throw to first got by Youkilis, allowing two runs to score. Suzuki was intentionally walked, but Figgins was caught looking at a called third strike to send the game into extra innings. "It comes down to that 12th inning, bases loaded, one out, meat of the order up, and we don't get it done," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. "But, to be down facing Delcarmen, Papelbon and to score five runs, that shows a lot of character." Suzuki crashed into the wall in right field to rob David Ortiz of a home run in the first inning. Seattle produced a run in the bottom portion. Bradley walked, stole second and went to third on Smoak's groundout. With two down, Bradley scored on a passed ball by Kevin Cash. Cameron doubled leading off the third and Hall followed with a homer to left field. Scutaro singled with one out, went to second on a wild pitch and came home on a Ortiz two-out base hit to right. After hitting Wilson with a pitch to open the third, Lackey retired the ensuing 16 batters. Meanwhile, Boston added to its lead in the sixth as Drew homered to right field with Beltre on base. Scutaro homered to left off Brian Sweeney with one out in the seventh for a 6-1 margin. Game Notes Earlier Thursday, the Mariners traded minor league infielder Jack Hannahan to the Red Sox for a player to be named later or cash considerations...Prior to Thursday, the Mariners had never scored five or more runs in the ninth inning to tie or win a game...It was the fourth blown save of the year for Papelbon...Beltre, who signed with the Red Sox in the offseason after spending five years in Seattle, went 1-for-6...Youkilis had three hits.
<< Kuroda sparkles on mound as Dodgers blank Mets
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hiroki Kuroda threw eight scoreless frames, stonewalling an already befuddled Mets offense, as the Dodgers blanked New York, 2-0, in the first of four games at Chavez Ravine. Kuroda (8-8) scattered fi
<< Donovan's late goal helps Galaxy tie Earthquakes
<< Broncos' Dumervil agrees to extension
<< Cain, Giants blank Diamondbacks
<< Duval boots 7 FGs as Als rout Hamilton
Kurt Thomas joining Bulls >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls have reportedly come to terms with veteran forward Kurt Thomas on a contract. The Chicago Tribune was one source reporting the agreement Thursday night. The 37-year-old Thomas, a first-rou
Armed men rob home of Bobcats' Stephen Jackson >>
Iowa St DB Sims investigated in credit card case >>
Chris Paul's "Big Three" Fantasy May Be Just That >>
Roughriders add K/P Johnson >>
Sportsbooks to bet on footballRecently 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. |
|
