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Dodgers shoot for another win in key set with PadresBaseball Betting Lines07/28/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Excellent pitching and timely hitting made the Los Angeles Dodgers look like the first-place team last night versus the San Diego Padres. Los Angeles goes for its first four-game winning streak in almost two months tonight, when it tries to inch closer to National League West-leading San Diego in the second contest of a three-game set at Petco Park. The Dodgers came into last night's game with the Padres six games back in the race for the division crown, but shaved one off that deficit with a 2-0 victory. Chad Billingsley allowed just three hits and two walks over six innings, but was replaced by a pinch-hitting Andre Ethier during the seventh because it was a scoreless game. The move paid off for Los Angeles manager Joe Torre, as Ethier hit a two-run single with the bases loaded and two outs despite not starting the game due to illness. That hit made Billingsley a winner, and Hong-Chih Kuo followed with two scoreless innings of relief before Jonathan Broxton recorded his 20th save of the season. "I didn't want [Billingsley] starting the game and coming out in the fifth inning," Torre said. "That couldn't have been more of a perfect spot, when they had to pitch to him." Ethier's hit scored both Blake DeWitt and Garret Anderson for the Dodgers, who have won five of six and aim for their first four-game winning streak since June 6-9. Jon Garland took the loss after giving up two runs over 6 2/3 innings. Yorvit Torrealba had a pair of hits for the Padres, who failed to score in the fourth inning despite loading the bases with nobody out. "Obviously we'd like to push runs across every night, but sometimes it doesn't go your way," Padres second baseman Jerry Hairston Jr. said. "We just have to come back and be ready to play [Wednesday] night." The Padres had a three-game winning streak end while the second-place San Francisco Giants pulled within 2 1/2 games of the division's top spot. San Diego will look to rebound tonight behind Clayton Richard, who had won three consecutive decisions prior to a setback to the Braves on Thursday. The 26-year-old lefty allowed four runs, all but one earned, on nine hits and two walks over six innings, falling to 7-5 with a 3.57 earned run average on the season. Richard has made two starts in his career versus the Dodgers, going 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA. Hiroki Kuroda counters for the Dodgers after halting a three-start losing streak on Thursday. Facing the Mets, the 35-year-old Japanese import yielded five hits and a walk over eight scoreless innings to improve to 8-8 with a 3.48 ERA this year. However, Kuroda does have a 7.13 ERA over his last four outings. The right-hander is 4-2 with a 4.91 ERA in his career versus the Padres. Los Angeles has won five of six over the Padres this year, including a three- game sweep at Petco Park from May 14-16.
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Betting FootballNFL 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. |
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