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Desperate Dodgers make a stop in MilwaukeeBaseball Betting Lines08/24/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers hope to keep their slim playoff hopes alive tonight, when they kick off a six-game road trip with the first of three straight matchups against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. Los Angeles is 7 1/2 games off the pace in the National League Wild Card standings and has dropped eight of its last 12 games. In Sunday's 5-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds in the finale of a three-game series, Clayton Kershaw was dealt the defeat for giving up three runs with 11 strikeouts in seven innings. "Clayton settled down after the first inning," said Dodgers manager Joe Torre. "But when you don't put up runs it puts a lot of stress on our pitchers. We struggled against a pretty good pitcher [Bronson Arroyo] today." Matt Kemp homered and A.J. Ellis finished with three hits and an RBI for the Dodgers, who will also visit Colorado for three games on the trip. Ted Lilly has won all four of his starts with the Dodgers and will take the mound again Tuesday night. Lilly has pitched to a 1.29 earned run average in his first four starts with his new team and is coming off a two-hit shutout of the Rockies last Thursday. Lilly, a lefty, entered that game after tossing six scoreless frames in a win at Atlanta on August 14 and is 7-8 with a 3.23 ERA for the Cubs and Dodgers this season. He owns a 4-2 mark in 10 career games (nine starts) against Milwaukee. The Brewers had a four-game winning streak cut short in Sunday's 7-3 loss to the San Diego Padres in the finale of a three-game series. Manny Parra was rocked for seven runs and eight hits in six innings to absorb the loss, while Ryan Braun ended 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI for Milwaukee, which also got two hits from Rickie Weeks, Chris Dickerson and Jonathan Lucroy. "My fastball was terrible all day," said Parra. "That's what came back to bite me. I fell behind and couldn't locate my pitches and that's what happened." Milwaukee, which will also host Pittsburgh in Brew City, is slated to send Dave Bush to the mound in Tuesday's series opener. Bush is 6-10 with a 4.63 earned run average in 25 games (24 starts) this season and is coming off a win at St. Louis last Tuesday. Bush held the Cardinals to a run and four hits in six innings after going 0-2 in his three preceding starts. The righty is 1-1 with a 3.55 ERA in four career starts against Los Angeles. The Brewers took two of three matchups with Los Angeles at Chavez Ravine back in early May and have won five of the last eight contests between the two ballclubs.
<< A's to open key road trip in Cleveland
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics are still alive in the playoff race and will kick off a lengthy 10-game road trip tonight with the first of three straight games against the Cleveland Indians from Progressive Field. The A's are 8 1/2
<< Tigers await Damon's decision; resume set with KC
<< NL playoff hopefuls continue set in San Francisco
<< Yankees, Jays continue series up north
<< Red Sox hope Beckett can pitch past Mariners
White Sox seeking to bounce back against Orioles >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox are hoping an upcoming series with the Baltimore Orioles will catapult them back into the playoff mix. The two teams collide tonight in the opener of a three-game set at US Cellular Field. Chicago is
Padres return home to battle Diamondbacks >>
Mets to face Marlins ace in divisional clash >>
Report: Bobcats sign Kwame Brown >>
Blackhawks make it official with Pisani >>
Betting the NFL preseasonRule 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. To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards. |
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