Reeling Rockies return home to battle Bucs
Baseball Betting Lines
07/27/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The suddenly-skidding Colorado Rockies welcome another struggling National League team to Coors Field tonight, when they open a three-game midweek series with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Colorado, which has lost six straight games, enters the set sitting fourth in the NL's West Division - eight games behind the first-place San Diego Padres and 4 1/2 games off the pace of the Wild Card-leading San Francisco Giants.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, is dead-last in the NL Central, 20 1/2 games behind the division-leading St. Louis Cardinals.
The Rockies, who are 31-16 at home, come in after a four-game sweep at the hands of Philadelphia in a series that ended with a 5-4 defeat on Monday, when Brian Schneider hit a two-run triple and Joe Blanton threw six solid innings for the Phillies.
Jason Hammel (7-6) allowed five runs -- four earned -- in 5 2/3 innings to take the loss for Colorado.
The Pirates come in having dropped four straight, including a 6-3 home loss to San Diego on Sunday, when Chris Denorfia and Adrian Gonzalez each homered for the Padres.
Ronny Cedeno hit a two-run homer for the Pirates, who went 4-6 on a 10-game homestand. Starting pitcher Brad Lincoln (1-4) lasted 6 1/3 innings, giving up six runs on eight hits. He also had an RBI.
Colorado sends lefty Jorge De La Rosa to the mound in search of a first win since returning from an extended stay on the disabled list.
The 29-year-old was 3-1 with a 3.91 earned run average through his initial four starts in April, but is 0-1 with a pair of no-decisions in three outings since returning to full-time duty on July 9. He's given up 13 hits and 16 runs in 13 2/3 innings over three starts.
De La Rosa is 3-1 lifetime against the Pirates with a 4.26 ERA in eight appearances, four of which have been starts.
For Pittsburgh, lefty Zach Duke aims for a second straight triumph after ending a five-start losing streak.
The 27-year-old Texan fell from 3-4 to 3-9 over five straight outings between May 28 and July 16, but bounced back in a 15-3 rout of Milwaukee on July 21 in which he gave up six hits and two earned runs in six innings. It was Duke's first win since May 18.
Lifetime against the Rockies, Duke is 3-2 with a 6.90 ERA in five starts. He is 2-4 over six road starts in 2010.
Colorado won six of nine matchups with the Pirates last year and has dominated this series at home over the past two seasons, having gone 9-1 against Pittsburgh at Coors Field since 2008.
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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.