Braves fall back into wild card tie with loss to Phils
Baseball Betting Lines
09/27/2011 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta's once healthy wild card lead is no more, as the Braves were dumped by the record-setting Phillies, 7-1, and the Cardinals came back and beat the Astros later Tuesday night.
The Cardinals trailed the Braves by 10 1/2 games on August 25, but polar opposite performances in September has the clubs all square atop the wild card standings heading into the regular season finale.
Atlanta has a 9-17 mark in September to blame, including losses in seven of its last nine.
Philadelphia, responsible for five of its division rivals' losses in the last month, matched a club record with 101 wins, set a franchise mark with 49 road victories and saw manager Charlie Manuel match Gene Mauch for first place on the club's all-time wins list.
Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Hunter Pence all homered for the five-time NL East champions, while Roy Oswalt (9-10) hurled six scoreless innings.
Derek Lowe (9-17), the embodiment of Atlanta's collapse, was tagged for five runs on six hits in four-plus innings, falling to 0-5 in September with an 8.75 earned run average.
"It's just been a long year, my worst year by far. But with that being said, this isn't about me, it's about our team. We still have a chance," Lowe said.
That chance rests on the arm of veteran Tim Hudson, who will start opposite Joe Blanton in the regular season finale Wednesday. If a tiebreaker is needed, St. Louis will host Atlanta on Thursday.
Atlanta will start veteran Tim Hudson in the regular season finale, while Philadelphia will counter with Joe Blanton.
The Phillies, winners of three straight since a season-long eight-game skid, jumped on Lowe in the first inning via Utley's solo shot to center.
The visitors pushed two more across in the third on Rollins' RBI single through the right side and Pence's sacrifice fly.
Shane Victorino and Raul Ibanez each singled to begin the fourth, and the former scored on Placido Polanco's sacrifice fly.
Lowe exited to a mix of sarcastic clapping and boos from the Turner Field crowd after yielding a leadoff single to Rollins in the fifth. Three batters later, Pence took Arodys Vizcaino deep to left-center for his 22nd home run and a 6-0 cushion.
"It's always nice to put some runs on the board, especially early. Lately our pitchers have been having to go eight innings just to see one run get on the board," Rollins said.
Julio Teheran surrendered Rollins' blast in the seventh, and the only hit the Braves managed off Philadelphia's bullpen was Martin Prado's home run off Kyle Kendrick in the ninth.
Game Notes
The Phillies won 101 games in 1976 and '77 and had 48 road wins in 1976 and 2009...Manuel and Mauch each have 645 wins, with the latter managing from 1960-68...Rollins had three of the Phillies' nine hits. With a steal in the third, he reached 30-plus stolen bases for the ninth time in his career...Braves shortstop Alex Gonzalez left the game early with a right calf strain...Philadelphia leads the season series, 11-6.
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Delmon Young had three hits, including a homer and knocked in three, as the Tigers used another big offensive showing to down Cleveland, 9-6, at Comerica Park. Detroit had 18 hits in a 14-0 win on Monday.
<< Red Sox edge Orioles, stay tied for wild card lead
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Lavarnway hit his first two career home
runs and totaled four RBI as the Boston Red Sox temporarily put the brakes on
a September swoon with an 8-7 decision over Baltimore in the middle test of a
three-g
<< Tosoni's slam lifts Twins over Royals
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rene Tosoni's sixth-inning grand slam
proved to be the difference as Minnesota downed Kansas City by a 7-4 count in
the second of three between the clubs.
Chris Parmelee added a solo shot, and both
<< Buehrle, White Sox edge Blue Jays in first game without Guillen
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - On the first night without manager Ozzie
Guillen, pitcher Mark Buehrle dazzled in what may be his last start as a White
Sox.
Buehrle pitched seven shutout frames to lead Chicago past Toronto, 2-1, in the
<< Triple play, Joyce HR keep Rays tied for wild card lead
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A triple play in the sixth inning kept
the Rays from getting too far behind, and Matt Joyce's seventh-inning homer
put them in front.
Both plays likely saved their season.
Joyce's three-run blas
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Prince Fielder hit three home runs for the first time in his career, including the tie-breaking two-run blast in the seventh, to power the Brewers to a 6-4 victory over the Pirates. Fielder had a pa
Cardinals tie wild card with victory over Astros >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cardinals improbably control their own
postseason fate after coming back and destroying the Astros, 13-6, in the
penultimate game of the regular season.
St. Louis trailed wild card-leading Atlant
Stubbs, Reds squeeze win over Mets in 13 >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Drew Stubbs executed a go-ahead squeeze bunt
as the Cincinnati Reds edged the New York Mets, 5-4, in 13 innings.
Juan Francisco slapped a one-out triple in the right-center field gap off of
Dale Thayer (
Brown signs bill to help get NFL stadium in LA >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - California governor Jerry Brown signed a
bill Tuesday to help Los Angeles get a new NFL stadium by way of avoiding long
court battles.
"It's time for big thinking and big projects that put California
Colts bring back quarterback Dan Orlovsky >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indianapolis Colts, searching for
stability at a position that has been stable for well over a decade, have
reportedly brought back quarterback Dan Orlovsky.
Orlovsky was re-signed late Tuesd
Sportsbooks to bet on football
Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.
He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.
"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.
He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.
Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.
Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.
Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.
Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.
With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.
Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).
And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)
The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.
While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.
Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.
One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.
Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.
What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.
That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.
MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.
"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.
"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."
So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.
In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.
MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.
The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.
Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.
MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.
To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
MySportsbook.com is an online sportsbook that aims to keep betting fun. The company sees itself as a premier provider of a top-shelf gambling entertainment experience. MySportsbook knows that this can not be accomplished if gamblers are struggling through the betting process, so the emphasis is put on simplicity and ease of use.
Established in 1997, MySportsbook was the first sportsbook to offer the Instant eCheck method, and has since continued on to be one of the most innovate and fastest growing internet sportsbooks the industry has seen. A player doesn’t have to look very far before coming across one of the many sportsbooks that have cloned MySportsbook’s written policies, web pages and advertising campaign, hoping to bottle some of MySportsbook’s magic.
Although MySportsbook’s growth is largely attributed to their talented in-house marketing team, every successful bookmaker will agree that bringing the players in is only half of the battle. In a time when most internet sportsbook were nickel-and-diming players, MySportsbook was creating ways to make bonuses automatic and absent of fine print, while offering all payouts free of charge. This sportsbook also accepts Visa & Mastercard sportsbook.
Almost everything on the online sportsbook site is set in the model of simplicity, making the CS clerk’s job easy as well. Each account action made online results in an automated email sent to the client. When calling MySportsbook, the player feels as if his call is in the united states as no accents can be heard through a state of the art telecommunications system. Few online sportsbooks can compete with My Sportsbook when it comes to offering a fun and hassle-free experience to the small to moderate sized gambler.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.