Blue Jays turn to Halladay versus Dodgers

Baseball Betting Lines

06/20/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay gets the nod this evening against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second test of a three-game interleague series at Rogers Centre.

Halladay is 7-2 with a 4.37 ERA in 12 starts this season and is unbeaten over his last four trips to the mound (3-0). Halladay is riding a personal two- start winning streak and defeated Washington the last time out on June 15, yielding just a pair of runs in 7 1/3 innings of a 7-2 triumph in Canada.

The right-hander is a perfect 2-0 in two starts with a 1.69 ERA lifetime against the Dodgers.

Toronto has dropped two in a row after a three-game winning streak, including Tuesday's 10-1 setback in the series opener at home. Aaron Hill knocked in the lone run for the Blue Jays and starter Dustin McGowan surrendered six runs on eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts in just 1 2/3 frames.

The Blue Jays, who are 11 1/2 games behind AL East-leading Boston, also noted that starter A.J. Burnett will be placed on the 15-day disabled list with a right shoulder strain.

Dodgers ace Brad Penny earned the win last night after pitching seven innings of one-run, six-hit ball with five strikeouts and one walk. Penny lowered his ERA to 2.12 and is unbeaten in six starts since a May 18 loss to the Angels.

Russell Martin ended 2-for-4 with a solo homer and two runs batted in and Luis Gonzalez ended 3-for-4 with four runs batted in and a run scored. Marlon Anderson drove in two runs, while Juan Pierre and Jeff Kent each scored three times for the Dodgers, who have won five of their last seven games and sit 1 1/2 games behind San Diego for the top spot in the NL West.

Taking the ball for the Dodgers tonight will be Hong-Chih Kuo, who is 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA in five games (3 starts) this season. Kuo won his last start on June 15 against the Mets, pitching seven innings of one-run ball.

The Taiwanese left-hander will make his first appearance against Toronto.

LA and the Blue Jays met in early June with Toronto winning two of three on the road. Toronto also won two of three at home versus the Dodgers in 2004.

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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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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

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