AL Central hopefuls resume set in Motown

Baseball Betting Lines

07/12/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American League Central foes continue to go after each other this afternoon at Comerica Park as the Detroit Tigers host the Minnesota Twins in the third test of a four-game set heading into the All-Star break.

The Twins are making a strong push to catch up to the division-leading Chicago White Sox, now just 1 1/2 games out of first place thanks to back-to-back wins over the Tigers in the first two games of this series.

Last night Minnesota used a strong pitching effort by Glen Perkins to get past the Tigers, 3-2. The starter allowed just two runs on six hits and a pair of walks over 6 2/3 innings. After that the bullpen took over, with Joe Nathan eventually closing the door with a perfect ninth for his 26th save of the campaign.

Alexi Casilla finished with three hits and a run scored for the visitors, while Nick Punto played shortstop and came up with two runs knocked in.

On the other side of the ledger Matt Joyce recorded a pair of doubles and a run scored, but failed to plate anyone himself, leaving that up to Placido Polanco and Carlos Guillen, both of whom had an RBI in the losing effort.

Armando Galarraga had some trouble with his control for the Tigers, permitting four walks and six hits to turn into two runs over 5 2/3 innings as he absorbed the loss.

Already 1-0 versus the Tigers this season in three appearances, Scott Baker tries to earn his fourth career win overall against Detroit as he takes the mound for the Twins this afternoon.

Baker, who is 3-3 in his career against the Tigers and 22-22 overall during his four-year career, threw seven shutout innings versus Boston on Monday, but failed to factor into the 1-0 setback at Fenway.

The right-hander allowed just five hits and issued a pair of walks, while striking out seven in the outing. Baker has walked no more than two in any of his appearances this season, recording a mere 14 bases-on-balls in 76 innings, compared to 64 strikeouts along the way.

As for the Tigers, they have Nate Robertson preparing to counter on the hill today. The lefty, who is 8-9 in his career versus Minnesota, is already 1-1 against the club this year, showing a lofty 7.02 ERA over the course of three games.

Robertson, who suffered through back-to-back games of 11 hits allowed, straightened himself out on Sunday when he went the distance against Seattle in a 2-1 road win. In the contest the seven-year veteran permitted just four hits, walked a pair and struck out only one in his first complete game of the campaign.

While it still sounds rather high, Robertson's ERA dropped to a season-low 5.19.

Not only has Punto been a valuable commodity in the field, he's done the trick at the plate as well with 11 hits in his last 26 at-bats, leading to five RBI in the last seven games. Not to be overlooked is Justin Morneau who is hitting .462 over the last week with a .808 slugging percentage as well.

Take away his RBI from Friday and Polanco has been nearly invisible the last six games for the Tigers, hitting a mere .167 in 24 trips to the plate. A candidate for Player of the Week in the AL, Miguel Cabrera has certainly been holding up his end of the bargain with 11 hits in the last 27 at-bats, four of those going for home runs, which have led to seven of the team's 29 RBI.

Thanks to yesterday's win, the Twins have taken nine of the 13 meetings with Detroit so far in 2008.

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Betting Football

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Is 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.

MySportsbook.com Releases World Series Championship Lines

New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox early favorites to win 2008 World Series
The Major League Baseball season starts this weekend and MySportsbook.com, a leading online sportsbook for over 8 years, is the first to offer baseball sports betting lines on who will win the 2007 World Series.

"The World Series is the biggest baseball event in the sports betting world and MySportsbook.com is excited that we are first to market with betting lines on every team," says Tim Dalton, Marketing Director, MySportsbook.com. "We are getting things ready for a great baseball season and our members are looking forward to our Player Payback Bonuses, as well as Dime Lines, all season long."

Going in to this weekend, MySportsbook.com's favorites to win the World Series are the New York Yankees at 7-2 and last year’s winners the Chicago White Sox at 9-2.

"These betting lines are ripe for the picking," Dalton added, "baseball fans know that the season is long and many factors, including players staying healthy, will affect these Future odds as the baseball season progresses. Betting on your favorite team in the beginning of the season could prove quite lucrative. We are seeing examples of this right now in the NCAA College Basketball Tournament with a lucky few that placed pre-season bets on George Mason to win it all. Anything can happen."

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Mastercard needs..

About www.MySportsbook.com
MySportsbook.com is the foremost online sportsbook offering Internet wagering to its worldwide customers. Fully licensed and regulated in St. John’s, Antigua since 1997, MySportsbook.com offers a complete range of online casino games, sports betting lines, poker tournaments and horse racing offtrack betting daily through its portfolio of companies and managed services. With over 7 years of experience, MySportsbook.com has become one of the most respected companies in the gaming industry by providing unparalleled 24/7 customer support and timely payouts. MySportsbook.com is part of the SportingBet PLC group of companies that is publicly-traded on the London Stock Exchange ( LSE ) under the symbol SBT.L. MySportsbook.com provides a secure environment for sports and casino wagering and has been featured in numerous media outlets, including MAXIM Magazine, Cigar Aficionado, and CNN’s Paula Zahn Now among others.