Dodgers, Braves conclude series at Turner Field
Baseball Betting Lines
08/16/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The absence of a couple of key regulars didn't affect the Atlanta Braves' offense in their last outing. The National League East front- runners will attempt to build off Sunday's scoring barrage when they complete a four-game series with the struggling Los Angeles Dodgers tonight at Turner Field.
After mustering a mere two runs in splitting the first two tests of this set, the Braves' bats broke out in a big way on Sunday. Atlanta matched a season high with 16 hits in a 13-1 rout of the Dodgers, the team's highest scoring output since beating Arizona by an identical 13-1 count on May 16.
The Braves scored four times in the bottom of the third inning, capped by Alex Gonzalez's two-run triple, and four more in the fifth to build a commanding 8-0 lead. Troy Glaus belted a three-run homer in that frame and added an RBI single later in the contest.
Gonzalez knocked in four runs as well on the afternoon, while Omar Infante went 3-for-5 with an RBI single and scored three times for Atlanta.
Jair Jurrjens (5-4) also did his part on Sunday, with the Atlanta starter limiting the Dodgers to one run and striking out seven batters over the first seven innings. He improved to 5-0 at Turner Field this season and lowered his home earned run average to a stellar 1.83.
"It's always good when you have runs. You can go out and just throw strikes," said Jurrjens. "You don't need to make intense pitches all the time. When the game is close, every pitch means something and can be the game. With a big score like that, you go out and throw and try to work with a pitch count."
Infante is filling in at second base for All-Star Martin Prado, sidelined since July 30 with a broken right pinkie finger. The Braves will also be without slugger Chipper Jones for the remainder of the season after the veteran third baseman tore the ACL in his left knee last Tuesday.
It doesn't seem to matter much who's in the lineup for Atlanta when the team plays at Turner Field. The Braves are a major-league best 41-16 at home this season, a prime reason why the team holds a two-game edge on Philadelphia for first place in the East.
The Dodgers, on the other hand, have now lost 13 of their last 16 away tests and are a poor 24-34 as the visitor on the year. The defending NL West champs have gone 2-4 thus far on a road trip that ends tonight and find themselves 6 1/2 games behind the Phillies and San Francisco for the lead in the league's Wild Card standings.
"I think it's very frustrating," said Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier of his team's present situation. "We're all trying to achieve a goal. We're just trying to get back into the race in our division. We didn't come out and perform like a team in the race. It's just embarrassing when you're trying to make a push to the playoffs."
On a positive note, Dodgers outfielder Scott Podsednik extended his hitting streak to 12 games after opening Sunday's test with a double. The trade- deadline pickup is batting .380 (19-for-50) over the course of his tear.
Los Angeles was done in by a shoddy pitching performance from Vicente Padilla (6-4) on Sunday, with the right-hander rocked for eight runs and eight hits before exiting after 4 1/3 innings.
The Dodgers will be counting on a better showing from tonight's starter Chad Billingsley. The steady right-hander in turn hopes for a little bit of support from his offense, as Los Angeles has mustered just one run in a three-start winless streak (two losses, one no-decision) he carries into the series finale.
In his most recent assignment, Billingsley held the Phillies to two runs on five hits over six innings in a shutout defeat in Philadelphia last Wednesday. Two starts earlier, he blanked San Francisco over six frames but was stuck without a decision in an eventual 2-1 Dodgers' loss on July 31.
Unlike his team, Billingsley has usually done well on the road this year, having compiled a 5-3 record with a 2.96 ERA in 12 starts in visiting parks. He's just 1-3 lifetime against Atlanta, however, and lost to the Braves at home back on June 5 after allowing three runs in six innings.
Tommy Hanson, who gets the call for Atlanta this evening, has also endured some tough luck as of late. The young righty yielded just one unearned run and two hits over seven innings this past Wednesday in Houston, but was denied a victory when closer Billy Wagner blew a save opportunity in the night. That effort followed a no-decision against the Giants on August 6 in which Hanson gave up one run and three hits in seven innings.
The 23-year-old did best Billingsley and the Dodgers in that above-mentioned June 5 clash by tossing six innings of two-run ball, and is 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in two lifetime starts against Los Angeles.
The Dodgers did earn a split of their four-game home series with the Braves in early June, but have lost in seven of their past 10 trips to Turner Field.
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<< Dodgers, Braves open series at Turner Field
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The absence of a couple of key regulars didn't affect the
Atlanta Braves' offense in their last outing. The National League East front-
runners will attempt to build off Sunday's scoring barrage when they complete
a four-game
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Betting Football
NFL Football Betting OnlineIs there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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.