Santana picks up win No. 10 in nation's capital
Baseball Betting Lines
08/12/2008 -
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Damion Easley was hit by a pitch in the
eighth frame, forcing in the eventual winning run, and New York's mix-match
bullpen navigated the final two frames in a 4-3 victory over Washington in the
first of three games between the two NL East rivals.
Johan Santana (10-7) again left his fate in a beleaguered Mets bullpen riddled
with injuries and poor pitching. Joe Smith got the hold and Pedro Feliciano
notched his first save after seven strong frames from Santana, who allowed
three runs on eight hits with six strikeouts and two walks.
The Mets bullpen responded following a meeting with manager Jerry Manuel, in
which the skipper threatened to use starters in relief if the back-end's
ineffectiveness continued.
"A meeting helps sometimes. We're supposed to be professionals and be
able to put a game like yesterday behind us. But sometimes it's good to pull
everyone together. I took what Jerry said (about bringing up starters) as
something to fire us up," said Smith. "It hurts when they talk about bringing
people in. This is our bullpen. We want to step up and do it."
Carlos Beltran doubled twice as part of a 3-for-4 night and David Wright
collected two hits and scored twice for the Mets, who snapped a brief two-game
skid in the first game of a seven-contest road trip.
Saul Rivera (3-5) was saddled with the loss in a hotly debated eighth inning.
Wright and Beltran each singled before Rivera struck out Carlos Delgado.
Fernando Tatis then appeared to swing at a high-and-inside 3-2 offering, but
first base umpire Mike Reilly ruled no swing to load the bases.
Easley then saw a high offering go off his helmet, although Washington manager
Manny Acta contended -- to no avail -- the ball hit Easley's bat. The hit-by-
pitch forced in Wright for a 4-3 lead.
Ryan Langerhans hit his first home run of the season for Washington, losers of
five games in a row.
The Mets began the road swing with a two-run first frame triggered by Nick
Evans' one-out single. After Wright skied a pitch to the right fielder Austin
Kearns, Beltran doubled to put runners at second and third. Delgado delivered
with a perfectly-placed single into left-center, scoring both runners.
Washington responded with two runs of its own in the home half of the inning.
Cristian Guzman doubled with one out and scored on Ryan Zimmerman's base hit
and then Kearns singled. With two outs, Jesus Flores' base hit to center
allowed Zimmerman to cross the plate with the tying run.
The Mets re-claimed the edge in the third on back-to-back doubles by Wright
and Beltran.
Washington squared the see-saw affair with Langerhans' solo shot just after
stretch time.
Game Notes
Washington outfielder Lastings Milledge bunted for a base hit in the sixth,
extending his career-best hitting streak to 13 games...Jose Reyes stole his
40th base of the season...Nationals starter Odalis Perez pitched six solid
frames, yielding three runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and one
walk...Flores has 52 RBI on the season...Delgado notched his 74th and 75th
RBIs of the campaign...The attendance was 32,186...The Mets optioned Carlos
Muniz to New Orleans (PCL) to make room for John Maine, who will come off the
DL and start tomorrow.
<< Cabrera leads Tribe past Orioles
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Asdrubal Cabrera went 3-for-4, scored twice,
and drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as the Cleveland Indians
came back to edge the Baltimore Orioles, 7-5, in the second of a four-game
set.
<< Islanders name Gordon head coach
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Islanders have named reigning
AHL coach of the year Scott Gordon head coach, making him the 14th head coach
in franchise history. He has agreed to a multi-year contract with the team.
"Garth
<< Vazquez, White Sox blank Royals
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Javier Vazquez threw eight shutout innings, and
Jermaine Dye hit a two-run homer and drove in three, as the Chicago White Sox
blanked Kansas City, 9-0, in the first of three games with the Royals.
Vazquez (9-
<< Astros' Matsui leaves game with sore back
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Astros second baseman Kazuo Matsui
left Tuesday's game against the San Francisco Giants with a sore back.
He is listed as day-to-day.
Matsui went 0-for-1 before leaving following the second
<< Dickau leaves NBA for Europe
Avellino, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Clippers guard Dan Dickau has
signed with Euroleague team Avellino, the club announced Tuesday.
Dickau, 29, averaged 5.3 points and 2.6 assists in 67 games with the Clippers
last season, his
Phillips, Volquez help Reds topple Pirates >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Phillips belted a two-run homer to
lift the Cincinnati Reds over the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-1, in the first
contest of a three-game set at PNC Park.
Javier Valentin added a solo shot for t
Blue Jays come back to down slumping Tigers >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Lind hit a solo home run and Vernon Wells
had a two-run double to cap a four-run seventh inning, as the Toronto Blue
Jays battled back to beat the struggling Detroit Tigers, 6-4, in the second of
a four-
Berkman's slam punctuates Astros' blowout of Giants >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lance Berkman hit a grand slam as part of an
eight-run seventh inning for Houston, which took a 12-4 win over San Francisco
in the second of four games with the Giants.
Darin Erstad had two hits, including
Ramirez, Volstad lead Marlins past Cardinals >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hanley Ramirez blasted a three-run homer to lead
the Florida Marlins over the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3, in the second game of a
four-game set at Dolphin Stadium.
Cody Ross was 2-for-2 with a run scored for
Roddick, Del Potro move on in Washington >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Andy Roddick and No. 2 seed Juan
Martin Del Potro both advanced on Tuesday during first-round action at the
$508,000 Legg Mason Tennis Classic -- a hardcourt U.S. Open tune-up.
The former wo
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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