Phillies slam Sabathia, take 2-0 lead in NLDS
Baseball Betting Lines
10/02/2008 -
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shane Victorino hit a grand slam off
CC Sabathia, and Brett Myers tossed seven strong innings as Philadelphia
downed Milwaukee, 5-2, in Game 2 of the teams' National League Division
Series.
The Phillies took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series and moved one victory
away from winning their first playoff series since 1993. Game 3 is scheduled
for Saturday in Milwaukee.
It was Victorino's first career grand slam and the first postseason grand slam
in Phillies franchise history. Myers (1-0) gave up two runs on two hits and
three walks, while striking out four, for Philadelphia, which has won seven
straight against Milwaukee dating back to the regular season.
Myers also went 1-for-2 with a crucial walk that led to Victorino's homer.
Philadelphia got all its runs off Sabathia (0-1), who turned in his second-
shortest outing of the season. In 3 2/3 frames, he gave up five runs on six
hits and four walks, with five strikeouts.
Sabathia, who was going on short rest for the fourth straight time, went 3 1/3
innings in his third start of the season. Sabathia on Thursday gave up five
earned runs for the first time since an April 16 start against Detroit.
J.J. Hardy doubled and drove in a run for the Brewers, who are making their
first postseason appearance since 1982, but overcame an 0-2 series
deficit that postseason. Milwaukee lost the first two games of the best-of-
five American League Championship Series, but rebounded to win the final three
games against the California Angels.
Despite Myers' solid final line, he got into a jam in the first inning. With
one out, Ray Durham walked and Ryan Braun doubled to put runners in scoring
position. Myers then intentionally walked Prince Fielder before also walking
Hardy to force in a run.
However, the Phillies starter avoided further trouble by getting Corey Hart to
hit a grounder back to the mound, which Myers turned into an inning-ending
double play.
"We had them kind of on the ropes and (Myers had) thrown about 14 balls out of
the last 19 pitches he threw," Brewers manager Dale Sveum said. "So that's
just part of maturing, sometimes as a hitter, but Corey is a very aggressive
hitter, and unfortunately he hit a ground ball back to the pitcher and they
were able to get out of that inning, and obviously that was a turning point in
the ball game."
Sabathia managed to keep the Phillies scoreless in the first inning, despite
allowing a one-out double to Victorino. But the left-hander imploded in the
second frame.
Jayson Werth roped a one-out double to center and scored on Pedro Feliz's line
smash double down the third-base line to tie the game. After Carlos Ruiz's
groundout moved Feliz to third, Myers came to the plate, seemingly giving
Sabathia a way out of the inning.
Myers fell in an 0-2 hole in the count, only to take a slider for a ball, and
foul a pitch off. He took another slider low to even the count at 2-2 before
fouling off another Sabathia offering. Another ball low set the count full and
Myers walked on the next pitch.
"I know I'm a terrible hitter, but I really can't explain it," Myers said. "It
was like one of those freakish things that I was able to lay off some good
pitches that he made and able to extend his pitch count. And it's like one of
those things where baseball's weird like that to where you can have a guy that
pretty much can't hit a lick to go up there and battle a guy that's as good as
CC. And it's just part of the game."
The nine-pitch at-bat was the apparent turning point, as Sabathia loaded the
bases by walking Jimmy Rollins. Victorino batted next and drilled a high
breaking ball into the left field stands to give the Phillies a 5-1 lead.
"I said 'Did that really just happen?' That's more than anything, it was just
the excitement in the air," Victorino said. "Knowing that we got a little
cushion on a guy like CC to get an early lead."
Said Sabathia of the pitch: "It was a cutter. I threw it in and didn't get it
down, didn't bounce it, it was 0-2, 1-2, I don't know what the count was. I
know it was two strikes. And just didn't make the pitch. When I saw it leave,
I was just trying to keep the score right there where it was."
Sabathia got out of the inning without another run allowed, but got into more
trouble in the fourth. A walk to Chase Utley loaded the bases with two outs,
and Sabathia was removed for Mitch Stetter, who fanned Ryan Howard to end the
frame.
The Phillies went without a run the rest of the game, despite having at least
one runner in scoring position in each of the first six innings. But Myers
shut down the Brewers after the first inning, setting them down in order in
the second, third, fifth and sixth innings.
"Tonight I just tried to work down in the zone and go from there," Myers said.
"And I was able to do it in my past bullpens before this outing. I felt pretty
confident about going out there and locating fastballs and down in the zone."
In the seventh, Myers allowed a leadoff double to Hardy, who eventually scored
on Craig Counsell's groundout to make it a 5-2 game.
Philadelphia's bullpen, though, finished out the game. Ryan Madson and J.C.
Romero combined to throw a scoreless eighth, and Brad Lidge needed 12 pitches
in the ninth to earn his second save of the playoffs.
Game Notes
Myers saw 19 pitches in his two at-bats against Sabathia...Victorino finished
3-for-4 with a pair of doubles...Werth ended with a pair of doubles...Utley
and Howard combined to go 0-for-7 with six strikeouts...Braun finished 2-
for-4...Attendance was 46,208, the largest crowd ever at Citizens Bank Park.
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<< Phillies slam Sabbathia, take 2-0 lead in NLDS
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shane Victorino hit a grand slam, and
Brett Myers tossed seven strong innings as Philadelphia downed Milwaukee, 5-2,
in Game 2 of the teams' National League Division Series.
The Phillies took a 2-0 l
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MySportsbook.com week 1 NFL lines
Now that the 2007 NFL schedule is finally out, it is only matter-of-course for lines on “Week 1” to follow. Of course MySportsbook.com is the first to churn out odds for the NFL’s inaugural week for the upcoming season. Expect a lot of fireworks the first Thursday night of the season as the defending champion Indianapolis Colts face off against the surprise of the 2007 season, the New Orleans Saints. These teams were ranked #1 and #3 in the NFL respectively a season ago so a high scoring affair could be in order. As of now, the Colts will be giving 6 points to the Saints; keep in mind the Saints were one of the better road teams last season going 6-3 SU and 7-2 ATS. The first Monday night of the season will again provide a “double feature”. Coming off a disappointing season, the Cincinnati Bengals will look to get back to playoffs and improve their public image as they take on the AFC North favorite Baltimore Ravens. The second game features a couple of teams that haven’t had too much success recently but each could make some noise if the NFC is as weak as it was last year as the San Francisco 49ers host the Arizona Cardinals. The most interesting game of the opening week will feature the NFC champion Bears as they hit the road to take on the NFL’s top team during last year’s regular season, the San Diego Chargers.
MySportsbook.com Week 1 odds:
Saints +6 @ Colts -6
Falcons @ Vikings (pick ‘em)
Panthers @ Rams (pick ‘em)
Broncos -3.5 @ Bills +3.5
Chiefs -1 @ Texans +1
Dolphins +3 @ Redskins -3
Patriots -5 @ Jets +5
Eagles -3.5 @ Packers +3.5
Steelers -4 @ Browns +4
Titans +6 @ Jaguars -6
Bears +6 @ Chargers -6
Lions +3 @ Raiders -3
Bucs +6.5 @ Seahawks -6.5
Giants +4 @ Cowboys -4
Ravens +3 @ Bengals -3
Cardinals +3 @ 49ers -3
Super Bowl line (2008)
NFC +6.5 vs. AFC -6.5
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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.
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 sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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