Angels return home to host Orioles
Baseball Betting Lines
07/02/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels return home from a six-day road trip in first place in the American League West. The two-time defending division champions will try to stay on top when they start up a four-game series with the Baltimore Orioles tonight at Angel Stadium.
The Angels started their six-game trek trailing Texas by a half-game for the West's top spot, but moved 2 1/2 games in front of the reeling Rangers after winning the first four tests of the jaunt. That lead has since dwindled to a half-game after losing twice to Texas over the past two days.
The Rangers closed the gap with a wild 9-7 victory on Wednesday, with Hank Blalock's two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning accounting for the winning margin.
Anaheim fought back from an early six-run deficit and had tied the contest at 7-7 on Juan Rivera's three-run blast with two outs in the top of the ninth. However, Justin Speier (3-2) allowed a leadoff single to Michael Young in the bottom of the frame before serving up Blalock's walkoff blast three batters later.
Torii Hunter came through with a two-run double in the seventh inning to aid the Angels' comeback, while Vladimir Guerrero finished 3-for-4 with a run scored in the loss.
Baltimore is also coming off a frustrating defeat on Wednesday. The Orioles coughed up a four-run ninth-inning lead against Boston, then wound up on the wrong end of a 6-5 decision when the Red Sox' Julio Lugo singled home a run in the top of the 11th inning.
Boston's rally capped a wacky three-game series between the teams. Baltimore lost two of those matchups, but orchestrated the greatest comeback in franchise history on Tuesday. The Orioles overcame a nine-run deficit by scoring 10 times over the seventh and eighth innings for an 11-10 win.
On Wednesday, Baltimore carried a 5-1 lead into the ninth inning before faltering. Reliever Jim Johnson gave up a two-run homer to Kevin Youkilis that pulled Boston within two, then the Red Sox loaded the bases on closer George Sherrill before Rocco Baldelli delivered a game-tying two-RBI single.
The loss spoiled an outstanding start from Orioles rookie Brad Bergesen, who gave up just one run and four hits and struck out six over the first eight innings.
Nick Markakis had a two-run double for Baltimore, which received solo homers from Luke Scott and Ty Wigginton as well.
The Orioles will try to put Wednesday's disappointment behind them as they begin a seven-game West Coast trip tonight. They'll tab Jeremy Guthrie, a winner in his last two starts, to pitch this evening's opener.
Guthrie ended a string of three straight losing starts after yielding one run and three hits over seven innings to down Philadelphia on June 21. He wasn't as effective in Saturday's encounter with Washington, but still managed a victory after giving up three runs over five innings in Baltimore's 5-3 ousting of the Nationals.
For the season, Guthrie is 6-7 with a 5.11 earned run average in 16 starts. Much of the right-hander's troubles have come on the road, where's he compiled a 2-3 record with a subpar 6.96 ERA in six starts.
Guthrie has made four previous appearances, three of which have been starts, against Anaheim and is 1-1 with a 3.47 ERA in those games. He's 1-0 in two visits to Angel Stadium, though, and allowed just four runs (3 earned) over 15 innings pitched there.
John Lackey takes the mound for the Angels and hopes to build off a very encouraging last start. The burly right-hander limited Arizona to one unearned run and struck out nine Diamondbacks over seven innings this past Saturday, although he wound up with a no-decision in an eventual 2-1 Anaheim win.
Lackey has won at least 12 games for the Angels in each of the past six seasons, but is only 2-3 in nine starts this year while missing some time due to an elbow issue. He's also posted a career-worst 5.06 ERA thus far and opponents are hitting .317 against him.
The 30-year-old does own a 6-3 career record with a 3.46 ERA over 10 starts against Baltimore, although he last pitched against the Orioles in 2007.
The Angels swept a two-game series from the Orioles at Camden Yards back in April and went 6-3 against Baltimore last season. The O's are just 4-12 in Anaheim since the start of the 2006 campaign.
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The Bronx Bombers will be shooting for an eighth consecutive victory and a
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<< Braves hope to break out the brooms against Phils
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four straight games tonight in the finale of a three-game series versus the
Philadelphia
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Some rebuild, USC reloads >>
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to Chapel Hill.
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Serena outlasts Dementieva to reach fifth Wimbledon final >>
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In one of the best women's matches
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The second
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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.
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.
To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game
How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.
A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.
Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.
The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).
Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.
The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).
Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.