07/04/2009 - Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aubrey Huff went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run, as the Baltimore Orioles hung on to edge the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 6-4, in the second test of a four-game series.
Luke Scott stroked a two-run double for the Orioles, who had lost four of five coming into Friday. Nick Markakis went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.
David Hernandez (2-2) lasted 6 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on six hits with two strikeouts and two walks to collect his second win in his fourth start in the majors. George Sherrill picked up his 18th save of the year.
"Impressive. He was throwing strikes and used all his pitches really well. He commanded his fastball and showed great poise," Orioles manager David Trembley said about Hernandez.
Kendry Morales belted a two-run homer for the Angels, who have dropped three of their last four. Maicer Izturis went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI, while Vladimir Guerrero drove in the other run for Los Angeles, which won, 5-2, in the opener of the series on Thursday.
Ervin Santana (1-4) went five frames, allowing six runs -- four earned -- on eight hits with five strikeouts and three walks to take the loss for LA. Santana was activated from the 15-day disabled list prior to the game.
"I felt good. My location was okay, but I made a few mistakes. My arm felt good, but I just want to win," Santana said.
The Orioles drew first blood with a pair of runs in the first inning. Adam Jones was hit by a pitch, Nick Markakis reached first on Erick Aybar's fielding error, and Huff singled to load the bases with one out. Two batters later, Scott stepped to the plate and stroked a two-run double to right.
Huff blasted a three-run homer in the third to give Baltimore a 5-0 lead. Huff drove a Santana offering over the right-field wall to knock in Jones and Markakis, who had singled and doubled, respectively.
Each team scored once in the fourth, as Markakis hit an RBI single for the O's and Izturis stroked an RBI double for the Angels.
Morales blasted a two-run homer to right off Hernandez in the sixth to cut the gap to 6-3.
LA plated a run in the eighth to cut the margin to 6-4. Torii Hunter, who grounded into a fielder's choice and advanced to second and third on two wild pitches, scored on Guerrero's groundout. Jim Johnson, though, was able to get out of the inning without any further trouble.
Sherrill came on in the ninth and gave up a leadoff single to Izturis but got pinch-hitter Mike Napoli to ground into a game-ending double play.
Game Notes
The Angels lead the season series with the Orioles, 3-1. LA won the 2008 season series, 6-3...Baltimore shortstop Robert Andino had a seven-game hitting streak snapped...The Angels are 7-3 in their last 10 games.
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Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sharp-shooting forward Hedo Turkoglu appeared
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Durant went 18-for-32
<< Sadowski, Giants' offense destroy Astros
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Sadowski got plenty of run support
while throwing seven scoreless innings, as the Giants erupted offensively in a
13-0 whipping of the Astros.
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<< Kings acquire F Smyth in multi-player deal
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Kings boosted their offense
on Friday, acquiring All-Star forward Ryan Smyth from the Colorado Avalanche
in a three-player deal.
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Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Following the Twins' 16-inning 11-9 loss to
the Tigers, Minnesota placed pitcher Kevin Slowey on the 15-day disabled list
with a strained right wrist.
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Giants option INF Downs; activate INF Aurilia >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Following the Giants' 13-0 win over the
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MySportsbook.com refunds all bets on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay from NFL week one.
(September 14) – Week one of NFL action saw three teams go scoreless for the first time since 1977. Another four were unable to get a touchdown and almost half of the underdogs covered the spread. Those three teams saved bettors at MySportsbook.com from losing out completely, thanks to the company’s unique NFL Shutout Rule -- which ensures that if the team you backed goes scoreless, your wager is refunded.
Sportsbook refunded tens of thousands of dollars to customers who bet on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay, the three teams that stunk up the field so badly that their fans and backers never had a chance to get up from their couches and cheer. In the spirit of the low scoring start to the season, odds makers at the world’s largest online sportsbook and casino have set odds on how many total shutouts there will be this season.
MySportsbook.com has posted updated sports betting lines for week two of the season. Ben Roethlisberger’s health status is still questionable, so Willie Parker will try to lead Pittsburgh again as they travel to Jacksonville as a one point favorite. After beating up on his little brother last week, Peyton Manning will look to lead the Colts to victory against Houston. Indianapolis is a whopping 13.5 favorite in the match-up.
Seattle, last year’s highest scoring team, showed the power of their defense with their gritty 9-6 win in Motown over the ravenous Lions. They take their act back home to the comforts of Qwest Field where they will face the resurgent Arizona Cardinals. The Seahawks are favored by a touchdown.
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Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"
A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.
In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.
"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."
Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.
But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"
Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.
This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.
Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.
In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.
No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.
And that's all any bettor can ask for.
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