King Felix goes for Mariners at Fenway
Baseball Betting Lines
07/03/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners enter the final leg of a challenging road trip with tonight's opener of a three-game series with the American League East-leading Boston Red Sox from Fenway Park.
The surprising Mariners have acquitted themselves well on the nine-game trek, which began with a weekend series with the Los Angeles Dodgers -- owners of baseball's best record -- and continued with three straight meetings with the New York Yankees. Seattle is 3-3 so far on the trip after knocking around Yankees ace CC Sabathia in last night's 8-4 victory.
Seattle battered Sabathia for six runs and 10 hits over the game's first 5 2/3 inning and had five players finish with multiple hits on the night. Franklin Gutierrez went 3-for-5 with a solo home run to lead the way, while Russell Branyan belted a towering two-run shot in the ninth inning to cap the scoring.
Ichiro Suzuki and Chris Woodward also knocked in two runs to help the Mariners avoid a series sweep and win for the eighth time in their last 12 games.
Miguel Batista (5-2) collected the win with two scoreless innings in relief of starter Jason Vargas, who lasted just four frames and allowed all four New York runs. The Seattle bullpen combined to hold the Yankees scoreless over the final five innings.
The Mariners, who enter tonight's play trailing the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim by 3 1/2 games for first place in the AL West, will now take on a Boston club that's a major league-best 25-10 at home this season. Seattle counters by sending out one of the game's most dominant pitchers as of late in ace Felix Hernandez.
Hernandez is 4-0 over his last seven starts and has produced a sensational 0.85 earned run average during that stretch. The 23-year-old phenom has worked at least 6 2/3 innings in each of those games and hasn't suffered a loss since May 29.
The right-hander is coming off a brilliant performance against the Dodgers on Saturday, when Hernandez yielded one unearned run on four hits and fanned nine batters over eight stellar innings.
"He's getting better and better," said Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu after the game. "He was electric [Saturday]. You can't say enough about him."
Hernandez has also held his own against the Red Sox in the past, as he owns a 3-1 record with a 3.05 ERA in six career encounters with Boston. In addition, the native Venezuelan has yet to give up a run in his two previous starts at Fenway Park, having tossed 15 scoreless innings while winning both outings.
The Red Sox hand the ball to 10-game winner Tim Wakefield, with the veteran knuckleballer also carrying a four-decision winning streak into tonight's tilt.
Wakefield put forth one of his best starts of the year Saturday at Atlanta's Turner Field, where he spun six shutout innings in a 1-0 victory over the Braves. He gave up just three hits and walked one over the course of the game.
The 42-year-old has also been quite tough to beat at Fenway, having compiled a 6-0 record with a 3.55 ERA in his seven home starts of 2009. The Red Sox are 12-3 overall in games he's pitched this year.
Wakefield is just 4-9 with a 4.06 ERA in 25 career appearances (15 starts) against Seattle, however, although he defeated the Mariners in Boston with seven innings of two-run ball in June of last season.
The Red Sox had their lead over the second-place Yankees in the AL East extended to three games with Seattle's win last night and enjoyed an off day on Thursday following a wild series in Baltimore. Boston took two of three matchups from the Orioles, but the team's bullpen suffered an epic collapse in a shocking 11-10 defeat on Tuesday. Baltimore scored 10 times over the seventh and eighth innings to rally from a 10-1 deficit.
Boston rebounded with a stirring comeback of its own in Wednesday's finale, putting up four runs in the top of the ninth to force extra innings and earning a 6-5 triumph on Julio Lugo's RBI single in the 11th.
Kevin Youkilis brought the Sox within 5-3 with a two-run homer in the ninth, while Rocco Baldelli delivered a pinch-hit two-RBI single with two outs that tied the contest.
"Obviously we thought we should have won [Tuesday's] game," said Baldelli. "[The Orioles] thought they should have won this game. It was nice to come back and get that win, especially getting on the plane and going home."
The Mariners won two of three games from the Red Sox at Safeco Field from May 15-17 but are just 5-17 over their last 22 visits to Fenway Park. Seattle has not taken a series in Boston since winning two of three tests from August 14-16, 2001.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies limp back home tied atop the NL East after a dreadful road trip. Tonight, they try to improve upon their horrific play in front of their own fans when they open a three-game series against
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Zambrano takes aim at his first win in five starts
this afternoon when the Chicago Cubs continue their four-game series with the
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Although it still sits in fourth pl
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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro
While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
Super Bowl XLIII Betting - Super Bowl 2009
Super Bowl 2009, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.Let’s take a look at the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds and the betting line and figure out where they’ve been and where they are going to go.
MySportsbook.com put up the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds late on Sunday night with the Pittsburgh Steelers favored by 6.5 points and a total betting line at 47.5 points.
Since then, however, the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds have seen a good deal of movement and you’ll want to be on top of where they are likely to move to make sure you get the best line value for the big game.
Since opening, the Super Bowl 2009 betting lines went to Steelers -7 in the span of roughly 3 hours but were quickly bought back down just minutes later to 6.5 again.
After that is took about 5-6 more hours before the betting line went back to -7 where it has sat for a while now and is likely to remain. The opening betting total of 47.5 was bet down right after the line became available and went to 47 within minutes.
Roughly a day later it has been bet even further down to the 46.5 tally it currently is set at.
Roughly 60% of gamblers seem to be on the Cardinals here so the point spread will be bet down and a 7.5 would not last very long at all with many taking the early 6.5 in hopes of finding a potential middle in the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds.
If you like Arizona and see a 7.5, I’d take it as soon as possible because it’s unlikely to last. For Pittsburgh backers, the -7 might be the best you’ll be able to find but a 6.5 is definitely possible close to game time.
Regarding the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds for the total, most tracked gamblers are already on the over and with those who took the under 47.5 already securing a middle on the over 46.5, the only way I see it moving is back up to 47 so if you like the over, I’d recommend betting now.
Get free Super Bowl XLIII Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online Super Bowl betting with credit cards