Twins hope to continue offensive onslaught in Kansas City
Baseball Betting Lines
07/28/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With their offense producing runs at an incredible rate, the Minnesota Twins set their sights on a fifth straight victory as well as a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals when the American League Central foes square off this afternoon at Kauffman Stadium.
After overwhelming the Royals by a 19-1 count in Monday's opener of this set, the Twins continued their recent scoring binge in another lopsided win last night. Minnesota pounded out 19 hits in its 11-2 rout of the Royals, with Danny Valencia going 4-for-5 with three RBI to lead the charge.
Joe Mauer, coming off a 5-for-5, seven-RBI performance in Monday's game, doubled twice and knocked in a pair of runs to help the Twins improve to 9-3 since the All-Star break. Michael Cuddyer and J.J. Hardy each contributed three hits and two RBI to Tuesday's triumph.
The Twins entered this series off a 10-4 win at Baltimore on Sunday, with yesterday's result marking the first team the club has scored in double digits three straight times since June 11-13, 1967.
"I think [the Twins are] the best hitting team in the American League," said Royals pitcher Bruce Chen after Tuesday's test. "They're good. I know they have some guys hurt, but they're still pretty good. I felt like I made good pitches."
Chen (5-5) allowed the first six Minnesota runs and a total of 11 hits over the first 5 1/3 innings to take the loss. His counterpart, Carl Pavano, was considerably better, as the resurgent right-hander limited the Royals to one run in five innings of work in posting his eighth straight winning decision.
Pavano is now 13-6 on the season, tied with the New York Yankees' CC Sabathia and Tampa Bay's David Price for the most wins in the AL.
Valencia has been on quite a roll as well lately. The rookie infielder had four hits, including a grand slam, in Monday's contest and has gone 8-for-9 with seven RBI so far in the series.
"It's been a great time for me," he said. "It's been a great time for the team. We've been winning and you couldn't ask for anything more.
Minnesota remained one game behind the Chicago White Sox, who defeated Seattle on Tuesday, in the race for first place in the AL Central with last night's verdict.
The Twins go for the sweep today behind Brian Duensing, who showed in his first 2010 start he can be as effective in that role as he's been for the team in relief this season.
In his first outing since being inserted into the Minnesota rotation in place of a struggling Nick Blackburn, Duensing held Baltimore to a run on four hits over five solid innings this past Friday. He left the game with a 2-1 lead, but wound up with a no-decision when the Orioles scored against the Twins' bullpen later on.
Prior to that performance, Duensing compiled a 3-1 record with a sensational 1.67 earned run average in 39 relief appearances for the year. The left-hander also did well when called upon to start in 2009, going 5-1 with a 2.73 ERA in nine such assignments, and beat the Royals by tossing five innings of two-run ball at Kauffman Stadium last August.
In eight overall encounters with Kansas City, Duensing is 2-0 with a 4.85 ERA.
The Royals hand the ball to Brian Bannister today and hope the inconsistent right-hander can continue his usual success in day games. The 29-year-old is 4-1 with a very solid 3.05 ERA in seven afternoon starts this season, compared to a 2-6 mark and 7.10 ERA at night, and sports an excellent 21-9 overall record in the day over the course of his career.
Bannister enters this afternoon's tilt in a slump, however, having lost in three consecutive starts and producing a subpar 0-4 record and 7.07 ERA over his last five mound trips. He's permitted four runs or more in each of those games.
The former University of Southern California standout did best the Twins at Kauffman Stadium on April 25 -- a game which took place in the day -- by yielding two runs over 6 1/3 innings. Lifetime against Minnesota, Bannister is 4-4 with a 4.09 ERA over 11 starts.
Kansas City has now lost five of its last six games and continues to have trouble against the Twins. Minnesota is 8-3 against the Royals this year and has taken 16 of the last 20 overall meetings between the teams. The Twins are also 18-5 at Kauffman Stadium since the start of the 2008 season.
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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.
Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.
Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.
Memphis vs. Ohio State
Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.
UCLA vs. Kansas
In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.
With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action. Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”. By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.
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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting
NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.
That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.
A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."
It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.
The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.
So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."
Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.
Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.
Seriously.
The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.
The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.
Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."
The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.
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