05/09/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles will attempt to maintain their recent dominance of the Kansas City Royals when the two teams continue a four- game series tonight at Kauffman Stadium.
Baltimore has now won 10 straight encounters with the Royals following Thursday's 4-1 victory. Nick Markakis homered and drove in three runs to lead the Orioles' offense, while Daniel Cabrera fired a complete-game three-hitter to help his club stop a season-high five-game losing streak.
Cabrera (3-1) struck out seven and walked just one to record his fifth career complete game for Baltimore, who are an astounding 16-3 against the Royals since the start of the 2005 campaign. The Orioles have gone 8-2 at Kauffman Stadium over that time frame.
Kansas City starter Luke Hochevar (2-2) gave up four runs on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks to take the loss. Tony Pena, Jr. drove in the only run for the Royals, who have dropped three of their last four games.
Kansas City's struggling offense may get a boost from tonight's matchup against struggling Orioles starter Steve Trachsel. The veteran right-hander has failed to make it out of the fourth inning in three of his last four outings and hasn't recorded a victory since he defeated Seattle in his season debut back on April 4.
In his most recent trip to the hill, Trachsel served up three home runs in three innings and surrendered six runs total to take the loss in Baltimores 6-5 setback to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Sunday. He wasn't any better in a no decision at Chicago on April 26, when the 37-year-old allowed five runs (4 earned) and walked five in just three-plus innings of work.
Trachsel has faced the Royals nine times previously and gone 1-3 with a 4.81 earned run average in those encounters. He did pitch two strong games against Kansas City last season, including a complete-game five-hitter to lead Baltimore to a 9-1 victory on May 28, 2007.
Gil Meche gets the call for Kansas City this evening and comes off his best start of the season. The highly-regarded hurler spun seven shutout innings to defeat Cleveland on Sunday, yielding just four hits and not walking a batter to halt a personal two-start losing streak.
Prior to turning in that gem, Meche had gone 1-4 with an uncharacteristic 7.22 ERA over his first six starts of the year. The 29-year-old has lost in all three of his Kauffman Stadium appearances this season, having given up 16 runs and 23 hits over 16 innings during that stretch.
Meche does own a 4-4 record and a 2.95 ERA in 15 career starts against Baltimore, but he failed to beat the Orioles (0-2) in three tries last season
<< A pair of aces to highlight Padres-Rockies opener
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A solid pitching matchup is on tap tonight at Petco Park,
where Jake Peavy will lead the San Diego Padres against Aaron Cook and the NL
West-rival Colorado Rockies.
Peavy is 4-1 with a 2.22 earned run average in seven
<< Reeling Brewers return home to face Central-leading Cards
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers are back at home after a lengthy road
trip, and they will try to stop a six-game slide tonight in the first of four
straight games versus the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park.
Milwaukee went 2-7 o
<< Marlins try to keep up season success against Nats
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NL East-leading Florida Marlins will try to extend
their current winning streak to a season-high five games tonight, when they
begin a seven-game road trip with the first of three straight meetings with
Washing
<< Braves take hot streak into Pittsburgh
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves will try to stay unbeaten this month as
they open a seven-game road trip with tonight's first of four straight games
against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.
Atlanta is coming off a perfect six
Maggert's brother killed in CO plane crash >>
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Professional golfer Jeff Maggert's
brother was killed Thursday when a single-engine plane he was piloting crashed
in a mountainous area in Colorado.
The plane went down in a rugged, wooded area a
Golf Tidbits: Inkster's major streak to end >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There have been significant winning
streaks in golf over the years, and there have also been plenty of players who
have stressed family over golf. Occasionally the two intersect.
Consider the case of Juli
Wolfsburg, Stuttgart highlight key Bundesliga games >>
Wolfsburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath described
Saturday's Bundesliga match against Stuttgart as a "final."
Wolfsburg has climbed from 11th at the halfway point of the season to seventh
- only Bayern Munich an
Cubs activate Eyre >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs activated pitcher Scott Eyre
from the 15-day disabled list and optioned left-handed pitcher Sean Marshall
to Triple-A Iowa on Friday.
Eyre, 35, has missed the first 34 games this seas
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.
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