Giants eye first place as they continue series in Arizona

Baseball Betting Lines

09/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -Runs were hard to come by in Monday's opener of a three- game series between the San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks, and another pitcher's duel could be in the works when the two National League West foes square off again tonight at Chase Field.

Neither team scored a run over the first 10 innings of yesterday's clash, with Nate Schierholtz's two-run triple in the top of the 11th breaking the stalemate and lifting the Giants to a 2-0 victory.

Arizona reliever Aaron Heilman (5-7) retired the first two hitters he faced in the 11th, but Aubrey Huff kept the inning alive for San Francisco with a single. Buster Posey followed with a base hit to set the stage for Schierholtz, who drove a pitch into the gap in right center to plate both runners and end the scoreless deadlock.

"I knew I had to keep it simple and stay up the middle," said Schierholtz. "[Heilman] left a changeup up and I was able to put a good swing on it. It was good to get in there and contribute."

Brian Wilson walked the leadoff man in the bottom of the 11th, but the All- Star closer set down the next three batters to record his 41st save and finish off the Giants' fifth win in their last six contests.

Monday's triumph kept San Francisco one game behind San Diego for first place in the NL West standings, and the team is now 1 1/2 back of Philadelphia for the lead in the league's wild card race after the Phillies split a doubleheader with Florida yesterday.

Following this series, the Giants will visit San Diego for four critical games beginning on Thursday.

Arizona suffered its third straight loss with Monday's result, although manager Kirk Gibson was pleased with his young team's effort.

"It was one of those kind of games, it was very tense and championship-caliber play," Gibson remarked afterward. "I loved it, but ultimately [the Giants] got the job [done]. For our team, this is what we're looking to play for every day."

Neither starting pitcher factored in the final outcome despite both performing extremely well. Arizona's Ian Kennedy yielded just two hits and struck out six over the first eight innings, while Giants youngster Madison Bumgarner fanned seven Diamondbacks and allowed five hits over 7 1/3 shutout frames.

With San Francisco sending two-time NL Cy Young Award recipient Tim Lincecum to the mound and the Diamondbacks countering with impressive rookie Barry Enright, scoring could be scarce again tonight.

Lincecum has really struggled over the second half of this season, but the 2010 All-Star was able to reclaim his usual outstanding form in last Wednesday's game against Colorado. The hard-throwing righty limited the Rockies to one run and struck out nine over eight innings to register a long- awaited 12th victory of the season.

The 26-year-old had lost five straight starts prior to Wednesday's breakthrough and posted an uncharacteristically bad 7.62 earned run average over that frustrating winless stretch. One of those setbacks came against Arizona on August 27, with Lincecum being reached for four runs and issuing four walks in six innings.

That defeat was only the second for Lincecum in seven career decisions against the Diamondbacks, and the San Francisco ace has recorded a strong 2.61 ERA over 12 starts in this series. In his most recent visit to Chase Field, he surrendered just two runs in an eight-inning no-decision on July 25.

Enright has been very consistent since joining the Arizona rotation in late June, with the 24-year-old having compiled a 6-2 record along with an outstanding 2.45 ERA over his first 12 major league starts. The right-hander enters tonight's tilt having won three consecutive assignments and outpitching some of the NL's top hurlers along the way.

After firing 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball to best Colorado and ace Ubaldo Jimenez on August 21, Enright scattered six hits over seven shutout frames to win a head-to-head matchup with Lincecum six days later. He then registered his fifth straight winning decision by holding the slumping Padres to two runs over seven innings last Wednesday at Chase Field.

Enright also opposed Lincecum in that July 25 meeting in Phoenix and received a no-decision as well after allowing two runs in six innings. The Pepperdine product has been tough at home this year, bringing a 4-2 record and a 2.64 ERA over seven Chase Field starts into tonight's game.

Monday's victory was the Giants' fifth in a row as the visitor in this series, having swept a four-game set between these clubs in Phoenix back in July. San Francisco has prevailed in nine of 13 overall bouts with the Diamondbacks this season as well.

Wwwstanleybet Baseball Betting News

<< Hard-charging Phils continue key series with Marlins
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies have been inconsistent on offense all year, and it was never more evident than during Monday's doubleheader versus the Florida Marlins. That still didn't stop the club from pulling within a half-game

<< Skidding Rangers resume set at Toronto
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers try to avoid a fifth straight loss this evening when they continue their four-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays drew first blood in this series on Monday, as Verno

<< Rays try again to snap slide against Red Sox
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays try to avoid their fourth straight loss this evening when they continue a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. The Red Sox kept their fleeting postseason hopes alive in the ope

<< White Sox send Garcia to mound in Detroit
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Freddy Garcia tries to win his ninth straight decision as an opposing pitcher at Comerica Park this evening when the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers continue their four-game series. In his last nine starts as a vi

<< Sabathia goes for 20th win vs. O's in the Bronx
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - CC Sabathia tries to win 20 games for the first time in his career this evening when the New York Yankees continue their three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Sabathia won his sixth straight sta

Braves seek to bounce back in second test with Pirates >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta's offense has been mostly shut down during its current stretch of four losses in five games. That is exactly what starter Tim Hudson has done to Pittsburgh over the last few years, though. Hudson looks to extend a

Padres try to string back-to-back wins together against LA >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After finally being able to end a potentially-costly 10- game skid on Monday, the San Diego Padres will try to start up a winning streak behind their best pitcher when the National League West leaders resume a three-game seri

Rockies hope to stay hot versus Reds >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies have put together a couple of strong Septembers over the past few years. They've been even more successful in recent meetings with the Cincinnati Reds at Coors Field. Colorado shoots for an eighth cons

Week One Highlights >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Could the 2010 college football season gotten off to a better start? It began with some of the nation's top teams flexing their muscles. There were shootouts, defensive struggles and thrilling overtime affair

Lohse hoping to pitch Cardinals past Brewers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Though the St. Louis Cardinals appear to be loaded at the top of their pitching rotation, the back end could use some work. Kyle Lohse gets a chance to claim his rotation spot this evening, when St. Louis tries to gain mor

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.