05/08/2008 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Treanor went 2-for-3 with a three-run homer, and Jorge Cantu finished with a two-run shot, as the Florida Marlins beat Milwaukee, 7-2, to sweep a three-game series with the Brewers.
Luis Gonzalez went 3-for-3, and Hanley Ramirez had two hits and an RBI for the Marlins, who outscored the Brewers 16-4 in the set.
Starter Mark Hendrickson gave up one run on seven hits, but lasted just 4 1/3 innings. Logan Kensing (1-0) followed him with 2 2/3 frames of scoreless relief.
Carlos Villanueva (1-4) took the loss after allowing seven runs on 10 hits in five innings, though he struck out six and tallied two hits.
Joe Dillon and J.J. Hardy each collected two hits for Milwaukee, which has lost six in a row.
Florida jumped out to a lead in the first inning, after Ramirez reached on a two-out single. Cantu followed by crushing the ball over the left-field fence. The Marlins then added another run in the third, when Ramirez followed Jeremy Hermida's lead-off double with a single, for a 3-0 lead.
The Brewers got one run back in the following frame, on Villanueva's RBI single that plated Mike Rivera.
But the Marlins put the game away in the fifth with another two-out rally. Dan Uggla walked, and Gonzalez followed with a single. Wes Helms drove in one run on a single, and Villanueva remained in the game.
Treanor stepped to the plate, and battled back from two called strikes for a 2-2 count. He then smoked the ball deep down the left-field line, and it bounced off the mesh attached to the foul pole, pushing Florida's edge to 7-1.
Milwaukee scored once more, on Rivera's RBI single in the eighth, but Justin Miller pitched a scoreless ninth to close out the game.
Game Notes
The Brewers left 11 runners on base, while Florida stranded seven...The Brewers' Prince Fielder did not start for the first time this season...Milwaukee returns home for a seven-game homestand, beginning with a four-game set with St. Louis that opens Friday...Florida embarks on a seven- game road trip, starting with a three-game set at Washington that opens Friday.
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“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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