Padres scratch Latos due to illness
Baseball Betting Lines
09/06/2010 - San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Just hours prior to his scheduled start against the Dodgers, the San Diego Padres scratched pitcher Mat Latos due to an undisclosed illness.
Latos has been the team's most consistent starter this season, going 13-5 with a NL-leading 2.25 earned run average in 25 starts. He will be replaced by Tim Stauffer, who will make just his second start in 2010.
Stauffer, who was a starter until this season, has a 3-3 record with a 1.68 ERA in 26 games. His lone start came on May 9 against Houston, and Stauffer pitched five shutout innings.
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coco Crisp drove in two runs and Brett Anderson spun a gem on the mound, as the Oakland Athletics beat Seattle, 6-2, in the opener of a three-game series. Anderson (4-6) scattered a run on four hits and d
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Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yadier Molina's second career grand slam
capped a six-run eighth inning to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to an 8-6 win
over the Milwaukee Brewers in the opener of a three-game set.
Albert Pujols drove in a
<< Glenn, Tiger-Cats beat Argonauts, win fourth straight
Hamilton, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Glenn went 27-for-33 with 313 yards, one
touchdown and one interception as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats downed the Toronto
Argonauts, 28-13.
Dave Stala caught seven passes for 90 yards and a score while
<< Hoffman rolls to big win at Deutsche Bank
Norton, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Charley Hoffman fired a nine-under 62 Monday to
roll to a five-stroke win at the Deutsche Bank Championship.
Hoffman, wearing his Celtic green, missed the course record at the TPC Boston
by a single stroke, but
<< Steelers name Dixon starting quarterback
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Steelers named Dennis Dixon
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San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Chargers signed quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan to a one-year contract on Monday. O'Sullivan will be the third-string quarterback behind starter Philip Rivers and backup Billy Volek. An eig
Schierholtz helps San Fran down D'Backs in extras >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nate Schierholtz ended a pitchers' duel with a
two-run triple in the 11th inning, leading the surging Giants to a 2-0 win
over the Arizona Diamondbacks to start a three-game series.
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Alabama DE Dareus to remain sidelined against Penn State >>
Tuscaloosa, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alabama head football coach Nick Saban
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Red Sox activate C Varitek >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox have activated veteran
catcher Jason Varitek from the 15-day disabled list.
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hitting .263 with seven home
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Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Troy Tulowitzki hit the go-ahead home run and
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Coors F
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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