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08/03/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A return home for the National League East-leading Atlanta Braves was enough to get their offense back on track. For the visiting New York Mets, not so much.
Atlanta hopes to pick up its second straight victory on its seven-game homestand while dealing New York a third straight loss in this evening's middle portion of a three-game series at Turner Field.
The Braves batted just .190 over a recently-completed 3-6 road trip, but broke out for 11 hits in last night's 4-1 victory. Starting pitcher Tim Hudson then did his job, holding the Mets to a run over six innings.
Rick Ankiel, acquired from the Royals before the trade deadline, notched his first hit with the Braves -- a two-run single in the first inning -- and Chipper Jones homered in the seventh inning for his first long ball since July 15.
"I don't care how old you are, you can use a confidence boost," said Jones of his eighth homer of the season. "It was a good feeling."
The victory pushed Atlanta's lead over idle Philadelphia in the division to three games, while the Mets fell 7 1/2 games back of the Braves. Atlanta also improved its MLB-best home record to 35-13, while New York lost on the road for the 16th time in 21 games.
The Braves were without All-Star second baseman Martin Prado, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list after suffering a broken right pinkie on Friday.
Carlos Beltran drove in New York's lone run with a fifth-inning double, while Johan Santana allowed four runs with a season-high 11 strikeouts over seven innings.
"It was a tough one," said Santana about the loss. "I came here and I knew that I had to step up. I didn't do my job, because to get a win here would put us closer to these guys. Instead it is the opposite. I tried to do my best but it didn't work out."
New York has lost three of its last four overall and has been outscored 18-2 over its last two games.
The Mets might like their chances tonight as long as knuckleballer R.A. Dickey can continue his surprising run. The 35-year-old is 7-4 with an excellent 2.32 earned run average on the season and snapped a four-decision losing streak on Thursday versus St. Louis.
Dickey allowed just four hits over 8 1/3 scoreless innings in that game and hasn't allowed a run in his last two starts. He picked up his first victory since June 23.
The right-hander faced the Braves for the first time as a starter on July 9 following a pair of previous relief outings. Dickey took the loss, however, yielding four runs -- three earned -- over 6 2/3 frames.
The Braves counter with Derek Lowe, who is just 1-4 with a 5.03 ERA over his last six starts. He lost to Washington on Thursday after getting charged with four runs on five hits over five innings of work.
The right-hander is 10-9 with a 4.58 ERA this year and 3-5 with a pair of saves and 6.61 ERA in 15 lifetime meetings with the Mets, nine of those starts. Lowe, 27, has lost both starts to New York in 2010 despite a 3.65 ERA.
The Braves have beaten the Mets in 12 of the last 17 overall meetings and are 16-5 at home versus them since the 2008 season.
<< Rays, Twins resume four-game set at the Trop
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays try to move into sole possession of
first place in the American League East this evening when they continue their
four-game series with the Minnesota Twins at Tropicana Field.
Tampa Bay is now ti
<< Nats seek to extend strong play in test with Diamondbacks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After getting their current West Coast trip off to a
successful start, the Washington Nationals will try to maintain their strong
play of late when the club continues a four-game series with the Arizona
Diamondbacks tonight a
<< A's shoot for another win over KC
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics try to beat the Kansas City Royals
for the sixth straight time this evening when the two ballclubs continue their
three-game series at the Coliseum.
Trevor Cahill was absolutely brilliant for t
<< Dodgers hope to get lift from Lilly versus Padres
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- With their backs squarely against the wall, the Los
Angeles Dodgers hope to receive an immediate boost from one of their new
acquisitions in tonight's showdown with the visiting San Diego Padres.
The two-time defending Na
Cubs rookie to face potent Brewers offense in debut >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs' Thomas Diamond has waited a long time to
pitch in the major leagues. Luck might not be on his side tonight, given how
the Milwaukee Brewers swung the bats on Monday.
Diamond will make his major league deb
Report: Favre set to retire >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brett Favre has reportedly decided to
retire for a third time.
According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the future Hall of Fame quarterback
has informed Minnesota Vikings officials that he won't
Wolves waive Delonte West >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Timberwolves have waived
guard Delonte West, who had just been acquired from Cleveland in a trade last
week.
West played the past 2 1/2 seasons with Cleveland and last year averaged 8.
Sim re-ups with Isles >>
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Islanders have agreed to terms
on a one-year, two-way contract with forward Jon Sim.
Sim, 32, appeared in 77 games with the Islanders last season, posting 13 goals
and nine assists.
"Jon br
Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.
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.
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