Phillies hope to get back on track against Marlins
Baseball Betting Lines
09/08/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies have been playing uninspired baseball since a big sweep of the Mets last week. The club will try to reverse that trend this afternoon in the middle portion of its three-game set with the Florida Marlins at Citizens Bank Park.
Since taking all four games of a home series against the Mets from August 27-30, the Phillies have lost five of seven, with three of those defeats coming at the hands of the Marlins.
Philadelphia has now fallen six games back of the National League East-leading Mets and still trail the Padres by three games in the wild card race.
The Marlins took two of three from Philadelphia at home in the Phillies' first series after sweeping the Mets, and then handed the club a 6-3 setback on Friday.
Miguel Olivo went 2-for-3 with a solo homer, two runs batted in and two runs scored in the victory, while Cody Ross had a pair of hits and an RBI. Byung- Hyun Kim (9-6) pitched six innings of seven-hit, three-run ball for the Marlins, who snapped a three-game losing streak.
J.D. Durbin (6-5) got the loss after giving up five runs, two earned, on five hits with four walks and three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. Pat Burrell hit a three-run home run for the Phillies, who committed a pair of errors in the game.
To make matters worse of the Phils, Aaron Rowand left the game in the fifth inning with a left hip strain.
Despite the club's desperate need for wins, John Ennis will make just his second career start for the Phillies today and his first in over five years. The right-hander made his major league debut as a member of the Atlanta Braves in 2002 and faced, interestingly enough, the Phillies. He got a no-decision that day, lasting four innings while giving up five hits and two runs with three walks.
Ennis made his Phillies debut on August 26, earning a save after pitching the final three innings of the club's 14-2 win over the Padres. He allowed one run and four hits on the day.
The 27-year-old, who has never faced Florida, pitched in 37 games with Triple- A Ottawa this year, including seven starts, and went 4-4 with a 3.38 earned run average.
Saturday's original starter, Adam Eaton, had his outing pushed back to Tuesday, paving the way for Ennis to make the start.
Rick VandenHurk will toe the rubber for the Marlins trying to recover from a poor outing on Monday. Against the Nationals, VandenHurk was tagged for six runs and eight hits over 5 1/3 innings of work. The loss dropped the right- hander to 4-5 on the season with a 6.84 ERA.
VandenHurk made his first career start versus the Phillies on August 7 and took the loss after allowing six runs in just 2 1/3 frames of work.
Florida is 9-7 against the Phillies this season, with a 3-4 record at Citizens Bank Park.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta gave its fans some excitement in yesterday's game with John Smoltz's no-hit bid. That excitement could be gone by season's end, however. The Braves will try to strengthen their fading playoff chances tonight when th
<< Rockies try and cut into San Diego's wild card lead
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It sure took an awful lot of pitchers, but Colorado
managed to pick up ground in the wild card race. The Rockies will shoot for a
series win over the San Diego Padres tonight when the clubs resume a three-
game series at Coor
<< Tigers try to gain ground in wild card race versus Mariners
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers go after their fourth straight win this
evening when they play the second test of a three-game series against the
struggling Seattle Mariners at Comerica Park.
In the opener of this set on Friday, Curtis
<< Morales' extra-inning RBI leads Angels over Indians
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kendry Morales' run-scoring single in the
bottom of the 10th inning lifted the LA Angels of Anaheim over Cleveland, 3-2,
in a battle of division leaders at Angel Stadium.
Chone Figgins led off the frame
<< Ortmeier lifts Giants over Dodgers
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Ortmeier clubbed a game-winning,
solo homer in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting the San Francisco Giants
over the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-4, in the opener of a three-game set at AT&T
Park.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York's Tom Glavine will try to win his sixth straight decision when he takes the hill for the Mets tonight in the continuation of a three-game series with the Houston Astros at Shea Stadium. Glavine is 5-0 over his las
Reeling Twins continue series against White Sox >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins try to avoid their sixth straight loss
this afternoon when they play the middle contest of a three-game set against
the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.
The Twins lost for the ninth time in the
Zambrano tries to put boo-birds behind him in Steel City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Zambrano wasn't happy when Cubs fans booed him
during his last start. Zambrano and the Chicago faithful will get a breather
from each other tonight when the ace makes a road start in the middle portion
of the Cubs' thr
Brewers hope for some success in Cincinnati >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers haven't fared well against
Cincinnati this season. The club will try and turn things around versus the
Reds -- and hold onto their share of the division lead -- tonight in the
middle portion of a three-
Red Sox send Dice-K to the mound against O's >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daisuke Matsuzaka tries to win back-to-back starts for the
first time in nearly three months this evening when the Boston Red Sox
continue their four-game series with the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.
Matsuzaka picked
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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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