Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
07/29/2010 - Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Albert Pujols drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the top of the 13th inning, as the St. Louis Cardinals snuck past the New York Mets, 8-7, in the second test of a three-game series from Citi Field.
Matt Holliday hit a two-run homer and drove in a total of three runs for the Cardinals, who bounced back from an 8-2 loss in the opener of this series.
Starter Jaime Garcia went six innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He also knocked in two runs and scored once. Mike MacDougal (1-0) tossed a perfect 12th to pick up the win. Ryan Franklin recorded his 19th save of the year.
Angel Pagan and Carlos Beltran homered for the Mets, who are 3-10 in their last 13 contests. Mike Hessman and Ike Davis each had two RBI.
Johan Santana got rocked in 5 2/3 frames, giving up seven runs on a career- high 13 hits. Pedro Feliciano (2-6) allowed one run on one hit in 1 2/3 innings of relief to take the loss.
In the top of the 13th, Feliciano recorded a quick out before hitting Skip Schumaker with a pitch. Felipe Lopez followed with a walk. Runners were on the corners after Jon Jay grounded into a fielder's choice. Pujols then laced the ball into left field to plate Schumaker for an 8-7 edge.
Franklin retired the Mets in order in the home half to secure the victory.
Trailing 7-2, New York got a homer from Beltran in the home sixth to cut the gap to four.
The Mets then tied the contest with a four-run eighth. Mitchell Boggs gave up a leadoff single to Luis Castillo, who scored on Pagan's homer to right- center field. David Wright singled and Hessman was hit by a pitch before Jason Motte was called in from the bullpen. He got Jeff Francoeur to fly out for the second out. Dennys Reyes took over and walked Josh Thole to load the bases. Pinch-hitter Davis tied things with a two-run single to right. Kyle McClellan was called upon to get out of the inning.
Each team stranded men on first and second in the ninth.
The Cardinals exploded for six runs off Santana in the top of the first. Lopez led off with a single and came around to score on Holliday's two-out homer to left. Yadier Molina singled, Colby Rasmus doubled and Brendan Ryan was intentionally walked to load the bases. Garcia then helped his own cause with a two-run single. Schumaker and Lopez followed with consecutive RBI base hits to make it 6-0. Pujols lined out to end Santana's 38-pitch inning.
The Mets responded with two runs in the bottom half. A bunt single and two walks loaded the bases with two outs. Hessman drove in two runs with a double off the wall in left. Henry Blanco popped out to end the frame.
Both starting pitchers settled down after the first inning, as a runner didn't advance past second until the top of the sixth. With two outs, Jay and Pujols hit consecutive singles. Holliday followed with an RBI double down the right-field line, chasing Santana from the contest. Manny Acosta struck out Molina, but not before St. Louis took a 7-2 lead.
Game Notes
The Cardinals won two of three at home over the Mets from April 16-18, but lost four of six at Citi Field a season ago...St. Louis optioned pitcher Fernando Salas to Triple-A Memphis and recalled pitcher MacDougal from Memphis...Holliday extended his hitting streak to 13 games...The Mets were without outfielder Jason Bay (concussion)...The Cardinals had 16 hits, compared to 13 for the Mets.
<< White Sox edge Mariners for 10th straight home win
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rios singled home the go-ahead run in the
bottom of the seventh inning, and the Chicago White Sox came away with a 6-5
victory over Seattle in the third test of a four-game series at U.S. Cellular
Field.
<< United dominates MLS All-Stars in front of record crowd
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Major League Soccer All-Stars fell to
English Premier League powerhouse Manchester United, 5-2, on Wednesday night
in front of 70,728 fans at Reliant Stadium - the fourth-largest crowd to
witness
<< Report: Wizards re-sign F Josh Howard
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Wizards have reached
agreement on a one-year deal with free agent forward Josh Howard.
According to TNT analyst David Aldridge, the deal could pay the veteran up to
$4 million if he
<< Cahill helps Oakland down Texas
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trevor Cahill allowed two hits over eight
innings in a dominant performance, and Kurt Suzuki homered and knocked in two
runs to guide Oakland in 3-1 win over the Texas Rangers in the middle contest
of a th
Body of missing Lorenzen Wright found >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The body of Lorenzen Wright, who had been
missing since last week, has been found by law enforcement officials.
According to The Commercial Appeal, the body of Wright, a former Memphis
basketball s
Report: Astros have deal in place to send Oswalt to Phillies >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros reportedly have a deal in
place to send starting pitcher Roy Oswalt to the Philadelphia Phillies.
FOX 26 in Houston reports the only thing standing in the way is for the right-
hander to
Richard shines as Padres down Dodgers >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jerry Hairston Jr. drove in three runs and
Clayton Richard was solid in six innings on the mound, as the San Diego Padres
took down the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-1, in the middle installment of a three-
game se
Stosur into quarterfinals in Stanford >>
Stanford, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Australian Samantha Stosur moved
into the quarterfinals at the $700,000 Bank of the West Classic tennis event
with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over American qualifier Christina McHale.
Stosur, who los
Rule 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.
NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting