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07/28/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Bautista may still not be a familiar name among many baseball fans, but the Baltimore Orioles know all too well how good the Toronto Blue Jays slugger has been this season.
The major league's leading home run hitter in 2010 will attempt to go deep for a fourth straight game tonight, while Bautista's Blue Jays take aim at yet another victory over the cellar-dwelling Orioles when the American League East foes wrap up a three-game series at the Rogers Centre.
Toronto moved to an astounding 11-0 against the Orioles this season by virtue of last night's 8-2 triumph, with Bautista homering twice and knocking in five runs as part of a 4-for-4 performance at the plate. The two long balls give the All-Star outfielder 30 on the season, and he's homered four times with nine RBI over the Jays' last three contests.
"Nothing different in my swing, just my approach has changed a little bit," said Bautista about his recent success. "I'm starting to get ready a little earlier in the at-bat."
Facing the Orioles has helped Bautista build his career-best numbers as well. In Toronto's 11 victories over Baltimore this season, the 29-year-old has hit .326 (14-for-43) with six homers and 15 RBI.
Vernon Wells chipped in a two-run double and both Fred Lewis and Yunel Escobar collected three hits to help Toronto prevail for the fourth time in its last five games overall. Starting pitcher Ricky Romero (8-7) turned in 7 2/3 effective innings as well, holding the O's to two runs and striking out eight Baltimore hitters.
Kevin Millwood wasn't nearly as effective for Baltimore, with the struggling veteran battered for six runs (five earned) on 10 hits over a 5 1/3-inning stint.
"I just didn't make very many good pitches and when you are swinging the bat as well as [Bautista] is, if you don't throw a good pitch, he's going to hit it hard," Millwood said.
Adam Jones went 3-for-4 for Baltimore, losers of four in a row and 10 of 12 since the All-Star break, while Nick Markakis had two hits and drove in a run.
Tuesday's setback was also the Orioles' 10th in a row at the Rogers Centre, where Baltimore has now lost in 15 of its last 16 visits.
With the Blue Jays in need of an extra starter due to having played a doubleheader on Sunday, the team will call up Brad Mills from Triple-A Las Vegas to pitch tonight's finale. The 25-year-old lefty made 16 starts for the 51s this season and compiled a 7-4 record with a 4.13 earned run average.
A fourth-round selection by Toronto in the 2007 draft, Mills did make a pair of starts for the Blue Jays last season, with both coming against the Philadelphia Phillies. The results weren't real good, as he was tagged for 12 runs and 14 hits -- including four homers -- over a 7 2/3-inning span while registering a loss and a no-decision.
He'll be opposed tonight by Jeremy Guthrie in what possibly could be the Baltimore hurler's final outing as an Oriole. Considered a potential candidate to be dealt prior to Saturday's trade deadline, the right-hander has helped his value with a pair of solid performances since the All-Star break.
One of those efforts came against the Blue Jays, with Guthrie limiting the Jays to a run and striking out six in a 6 2/3-inning no-decision on July 17. The 31-year-old followed up by yielding just two runs through seven frames to defeat Minnesota on Friday, finally putting an end to a personal two-month winless streak.
The former first-round pick was handed a loss at the Rogers Centre back on May 30 after being reached for four runs in six innings, and is just 2-5 with a 3.56 ERA in 13 career starts versus Toronto. Guthrie also has struggled on the road during his trying 2010 campaign, having produced a 1-5 record with a 5.01 ERA in 10 away appearances.
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<< Phillies try to extend season-best win streak against D-Backs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roy Halladay tries to extend the Philadelphia Phillies'
season-high win streak to seven games this evening when they continue their
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the Minnesota Twins set their sights on a fifth straight victory as well as a
three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals when the American League Central
foes square o
A-Rod takes another crack at 600th home run in Cleveland >>
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After coming up empty on
Injury-depleted Tigers continue set at the Trop >>
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Ellis shuts down Panama in 9-2 win >>
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Blue Jackets avoid arbitration with Stralman >>
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arbitration hearing scheduled for
Is 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.
MySportsbook.com favors Bears, Bengals, Chargers and Colts to remain perfect
LAS VEGAS , Sept. 28 - Two big match-ups of undefeated teams have fans salivating at the Week Four schedule in the NFL. The Chicago Bears stifling defense looks to provide a less than hospitable welcome to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in a battle of two 3-0 teams in the NFC conference. In the AFC, the San Diego Chargers (2-0) head to Maryland to face the surprising Baltimore Ravens (3-0) as both try to keep pace atop the conference standings. Betting Lines makers at MySportsbook.com, online sportsbook and casino, have set the Bears as 3.5 point favorites while the Chargers are a 2.5 point bet.
Of the three remaining undefeated teams, only one, New Orleans, enters this week's game as an underdog. Despite an emotional and resounding win over Atlanta on Monday night, the Saints are a 7.5 point underdog against the struggling Carolina Panthers. Indianapolis looks to stay perfect when they face the New York Jets as a 9 point road favorite while the Cincinnati Bengals are a 6 point favorite at home to the New England Patriots.
Six teams enter the week still looking for their first win, with a seventh, Tampa Bay, on a bye week. The prospect of dropping another game would not bode well for a potential playoff run. Since 1990, just three teams -- the 1992 Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions and 1998 Buffalo Bills -- have overcome losing their first three games of the season to earn a postseason berth. And only the Chargers managed to accomplish the feat after starting 0-4.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.
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