05/13/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics hope to continue their early-season success against the Cleveland Indians when the teams square off again tonight at Progressive Field in the opener of a three-game series.
The Athletics and Indians met six times during April, with Oakland winning the first two tests of a three-game set on both occasions. The A's have also swung the bats well against Cleveland pitching this year, as the club has scored six or more runs in each of its four wins over the Tribe.
Oakland also presently owns the best record in the American League West at 23-16 and has posted victories in five of its last seven contests. The team was last in action on Sunday, when the Athletics cruised to a 12-6 triumph at Texas to avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of the Rangers.
Emil Brown belted a three-run homer and finished with four RBI for Oakland, which also received a two-run blast from Daric Barton. Frank Thomas also knocked in two runs on the afternoon, while Mark Ellis contributed three hits to the winning effort.
The A's offensive eruption helped offset a shaky outing from Rich Harden, who lasted only 3 2/3 innings in his first start since early April. The oft- injured righty allowed five runs on eight hits and walked four before exiting.
Oakland's pitching finally settled down in the latter stages, getting 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief from Santiago Casilla, Alan Embree and Huston Street to close out the game. Casilla (2-0) was credited with the victory after keeping Texas off the board during his 1 1/3-inning stint.
Cleveland was forced to play a doubleheader on Monday after rain postponed a scheduled game with Toronto the previous day. The Indians split the twinbill with the Blue Jays, taking the opener by a 3-0 count and falling by the same score in the nightcap.
Fausto Carmona (4-1) was brilliant for Cleveland in game one, as the talented young righty went the distance on a five-hitter for his second career shutout. Asdrubal Cabrera gave his pitcher some breathing room with a two-run homer in the seventh inning that extended the Tribe's lead to 3-0.
Cabrera also produced an unassisted triple play in the second game, which was scoreless through the standard nine innings before the Blue Jays scored three times off Rafael Betancourt (1-2) in the 10th. Cleveland mustered just three hits against Shawn Marcum and two Toronto relievers and had a three-game win streak halted.
Cliff Lee delivered another outstanding pitching performance, however. The Indians left-hander threw nine shutout innings in which he scattered seven hits and struck out five. That lowered his season earned run average to a astounding 0.67.
Paul Byrd will attempt to continue Cleveland's string of strong starting pitching in tonight's tilt. The veteran righty has posted a respectable 4.28 ERA over seven starts this season, although he's got only a 1-3 record to show for it.
In his most recent mound trip, Byrd served up three home runs to the New York Yankees last Thursday and allowed five runs through 6 1/3 innings to receive the loss in a 6-3 Cleveland setback. That start came one week after Byrd fired 7 2/3 shutout innings in a no-decision against Seattle at Progressive Field.
The 37-year-old is just 3-6 with a 5.77 ERA in 12 lifetime starts against Oakland and lost to the A's at McAfee Coliseum back on April 4. Byrd was touched for five runs (3 earned) and eight hits over just 4 1/3 innings in that game.
Justin Duchscherer opposed Byrd in that April 4 contest and limited the Indians to one run and four hits over five innings to pick up the win. The right-hander, who will take the mound for Oakland tonight, then missed three weeks of action due to a strained biceps.
Duchscherer has been quite good since returning from the injury, having compiled a 2-1 record and a 2.65 ERA in three starts since coming off the disabled list. He worked a season-high seven innings against Baltimore this past Tuesday and held the Orioles to two runs and just four hits to improve to 3-1 on the campaign.
In 10 career appearances, including that one start, against Cleveland, Duchscherer is 1-2 with a 4.72 ERA.
<< D'Backs try to stop slide vs. Rockies
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Suddenly, the Diamondbacks are a team that can be beat.
Arizona will try to halt its season-long losing streak tonight in the opener
of a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies at Chase Field.
Arizona was sw
<< Red-hot Berkman, Astros square off against Giants
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Both Lance Berkman and his Houston Astro teammates aim to
keep up their recent hot streaks when the surging club plays the second of
four consecutive clashes with the San Francisco Giants tonight at AT&T Park.
Houston
<< Tigers continue to be victimized by poor starting pitching
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Having completed the first quarter of the season, there is
no question what has been the culprit for the Detroit Tigers' horrendous
start.
The starting pitching, by and large, has just been awful. Entering play
Tuesday, D
<< Weaver leads Angels vs. White Sox
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jered Weaver hopes to bounce back from one of the worst
starts in his career this evening when the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
resume their four-game series with the Chicago White Sox at Angel Stadium.
Weaver
Pistons try to eliminate Orlando >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Pistons attempt to advance to the Eastern
Conference finals for the sixth straight year, as they host the Orlando Magic
in Game 5 of their semifinal series.
Detroit leads this best-of-seven series 3-1. If neces
Flyers host Game 3 of East finals against Pens >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers hope a return to their home ice can
get them on the board in the Eastern Conference finals, as Philly welcomes the
Pittsburgh Penguins to the Wachovia Center for Game 3 of the best-of-seven
series.
Volquez tries to stay hot against Marlins >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Right-handed phenom Edinson Volquez looks for an eighth
straight quality start tonight when the Cincinnati Reds host the Florida
Marlins in game two of a four-game series at Great American Ball Park.
Volquez, acquired from
NL East rivals start series in Philly >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - California-born left-hander Jo-Jo Reyes looks for a third
start without a loss tonight when the Atlanta Braves open a three-game series
with their National League East Division rival Philadelphia Phillies at
Citizens Bank Par
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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