Punto, Twins edge Tigers
Baseball Betting Lines
07/04/2009 - Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Punto's RBI single in the eighth inning helped the Minnesota Twins take a 4-3 win over the Detroit Tigers in the second of a three-game set at the Metrodome.
Justin Morneau went 4-for-4 with a solo home run and two RBI, and Michael Cuddyer added a solo shot for the Twins, who have won three of their last four.
Francisco Liriano had a solid start as he gave up three runs and five hits with two walks and eight strikeouts over seven innings of work. Matt Guerrier (4-0) got the win for throwing a perfect eighth inning.
Magglio Ordonez clubbed a three-run homer to provide the offense for the Tigers, who have dropped five of their last eight.
Edwin Jackson threw 6 1/3 innings and was charged with three runs and six hits with four walks and nine strikeouts. Brandon Lyon (3-4) suffered the loss after working 1 1/3 innings.
"It was just one of those days where things didn't go our way," said Jackson. "I didn't have my best stuff. I'm a competitor and always compete, but this was just one of those days where it didn't work out."
With the score tied at 3-3 in the eighth inning, Minnesota grabbed the lead. Brian Buscher led off with a single and moved to second on a groundout from Jose Morales. Matt Tolbert then came in to pinch-run for Buscher and Punto singled to left, allowing Tolbert to score for a 4-3 lead.
"I saw the ball off the bat and knew I would have a chance to score," said Tolbert. "Once I took off if he would have caught it I would have been doubled off, but I knew it had enough on it to get into the outfield."
Joe Nathan came on in the ninth and shut things down with a 1-2-3 inning to pick up his 22nd save of the season.
The Twins grabbed the lead in the fourth when Cuddyer led off the frame with his 13th home run of the season, a shot over the left field wall.
Morneau's solo homer with two outs in the fifth extended the Twins' lead to 2-0.
Liriano, meanwhile, stymied the Detroit hitters through the first six innings.
After walking Dusty Ryan with two outs in the second, Liriano retired the next 13 batters he faced.
However, Detroit finally figured out Liriano in the seventh and took the lead. Marcus Thames led off with a single and Ryan Raburn followed with a single. After Brandon Inge struck out, Ordonez launched a pitch over the wall in left-center for a 3-2 lead.
Minnesota, though, evened the score in the bottom of the inning. Denard Span led off with a walk, but then Brendan Harris struck out.
Bobby Seay then took over on the mound, but gave up back-to-back singles to Joe Mauer and Morneau, with Morneau's single plating Span.
Game Notes
Minnesota has won five of the seven matchups with Detroit this season...The Twins left 10 men on base...Morneau has 20 home runs on the season...Attendance was 27,238.
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Betting Football
NFL Football Betting OnlineIs 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.