Road-weary Phils return home to host Mets
Baseball Betting Lines
07/03/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies limp back home tied atop the NL East after a dreadful road trip. Tonight, they try to improve upon their horrific play in front of their own fans when they open a three-game series against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park.
Before the Phillies embarked on their recent nine-game trek, they had been an incredible 23-9 away from home. However, after losing six of nine on the trip, including an ugly three-game sweep at the hands of the Atlanta Braves, the Phillies find themselves tied with the Florida Marlins for first place in the division with the Mets just a game back and the Braves only two behind.
Philadelphia fell for the 12th time in its last 15 tries on Thursday, falling 5-2 to the Braves.
The Phillies, who managed just seven runs in the sweep by the Braves, have been awful offensively, as Jimmy Rollins' season-long slump culminated with an 0-for-28 stint that was snapped in Thursday's loss with the former NL MVP finishing 2-for-4. Ryan Howard has also had a tough go of it of late with just one home run in his last 14 games.
Going home, though, may not cure Philadelphia's woes, as the Phillies are a dreadful 13-22 this season at home, where they will play their next 10 games.
As if things were not bad enough, the Phillies turn tonight to a pitcher in Rodrigo Lopez, who has not made a major league start since July 26, 2007 when he was with Colorado.
Lopez, a two-time 15-game winner for the Baltimore Orioles, endured Tommy John surgery shortly thereafter and was sidelined all of last season. This year in 13 starts for Triple-A Lehigh Valley, Lopez was 5-4 with a 3.91 ERA.
The Mets, meanwhile, saved themselves from a crushing loss at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday, before finally pulling out a 9-8 decision in 10 innings at PNC Park.
New York fell behind 5-0, but scored the next eight runs to take an 8-5 advantage into the ninth. However, the usually reliable Francisco Rodriguez gave it all back, as the Pirates scored three times in the ninth to send the game to extra innings.
Fernando Tatis, who finished 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and scored four times, was hit by a Matt Capps pitch with two down in the 10th, stole second, then motored home as Ryan Church bounced a base hit up the middle to put the Mets ahead by a run.
Rodriguez (2-2) then sent the Bucs down in order to finish the game.
"I'm the kind of guy that if I make a mess, I clean it up," Rodriguez said. "I felt really frustrated that I didn't get the job done in the ninth, then we score and I go back out there in the 10th."
New York's win was its second straight following a five-game slide.
The Mets will hand the ball tonight to Livan Hernandez, who is 5-3 with a 4.04 ERA. Hernandez lost his second straight start on Sunday against the New York Yankees, as he allowed three runs and three hits in seven innings.
Hernandez has faced the Phillies 24 times and is 10-8 in those contests with a 3.36 ERA.
New York has won four of its seven matchups with the Phillies after winning 11 of the 18 meetings a year ago.
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The incomparable Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, will appear in their fourth Wimbledon doubles final on Saturday. The fourth-seeded sisters drilled a top-seeded tandem of Zimbabwe's Cara
<< Cubs' Zambrano takes mound against Milwaukee
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Zambrano takes aim at his first win in five starts
this afternoon when the Chicago Cubs continue their four-game series with the
Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field.
Zambrano was roughed up by the Chicago White S
<< Braves try to stay hot in opener vs. Nats
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves try to push their season-high winning
streak to five games this evening when they open a three-game series with the
lowly Washington Nationals at Nationals Park.
Although it still sits in fourth pl
<< Ramirez, Marlins host Pirates in Miami
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hanley Ramirez will try to stretch his franchise-record RBI
streak to 11 games this evening when the Florida Marlins begin a three-game
series with the Pittsburgh Pirates at Land Shark Stadium.
Florida, meanwhile, has
<< Yankees, Blue Jays open key series with weekday matinee
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees will try to start a new winning streak
this afternoon, when they play the first of four straight games versus the
American League East-rival Toronto Blue Jays in the Bronx.
New York had a seven-game wi
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners enter the final leg of a challenging road trip with tonight's opener of a three-game series with the American League East-leading Boston Red Sox from Fenway Park. The surprising Mariners have acquitte
Cardinals send Pineiro to hill in Cincinnati >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joel Pineiro hopes for some run support tonight when the
St. Louis Cardinals begin a three-game set with the Cincinnati Reds at Great
American Ball Park.
Pineiro lost for the ninth time in his last 11 starts on Sun
Rays ride hot streak into Arlington >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays take their hot streak into the Lone
Star State, where the defending American League champions will start up an
intriguing three-game series with the Texas Rangers this evening.
With wins in 15 of their
Santana returns to face Orioles >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have been able to
rebound from a rough beginning to the season. The team is hoping one of its
most talented pitchers will be able to do the same in tonight's matchup with
the Baltimore Orio
Greinke hopes to slow down White Sox >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There haven't been many pitchers who have slowed down the
Chicago White Sox as of late, but Zack Greinke has shown in the past to be
quite capable of such a task.
The Kansas City Royals ace will take the mound in tonight
Big 12 Conference betting odds
Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State
Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.
Work left to do:
Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.
Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.
Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.
American Idol Betting Season 6 Strategies
It's that time of year folks. Betting on American Idol Season 9. And we have plenty of American Idol Season 6 strategies appearing below. With the Top 24 finalists revealed, online gambling sites will be offering betting odds on each of them, including MySportsbook.com.
No other “event” has been growing as fast as wagering on American Idol. It has turned into a huge betting event with reasonably high limits and all sorts of profit-making potential for sharp bettors. Last year, MySportsbook.com experienced unprecedented traffic as a result of the American Idol betting craze.
Every week there will be odds to win American Idol, various elimination props and contestant versus contestant match-ups at the MySportsbook.com website.
Whether a fan of America’s top-rated show or watching only because of a wife or girlfriend, here are some of basic strategies to use when betting American Idol.
Odds to Win
There are a few things to consider when looking for the right win bet. First off, remember that this bet is for the long haul. Many people make the mistake of picking the performer who sang the best the previous week. This strategy leads to an underlay situation – betting a price, which is less than what it should be.
All Idol contestants struggle at some point in the competition, so you should always look for value. In last year’s competition alone, two performers who had some of the best performances early in the series were subsequently bet down to low prices - Lisa Tucker and Ace Young. After just a few weeks, Tucker had already been eliminated, while Young quickly became a huge long shot to win America’s largest talent search.
A better strategy is to look for performers who don’t necessarily get the praise from the judges, but show flashes of the talent necessary to go the distance.
Another important thing to remember when betting any contestant to win is the demographic breakdown of the voters, the viewing public and potential future CD purchasers. Unlike sporting events, American Idol is not decided on the field of play – it’s decided by the American public under the guiding influence of the shows producers.
Understand that the great state of Alabama has a mighty edge when it comes to American Idol.
Therefore, to be successful betting on American Idol, put any personal opinions or prejudices aside and think like the majority of the voting public. Remember that the typical voter is young, female and quite often, Southern.
If a contestant cannot appeal to this demographic, no matter how much talent he or she possesses, they’ll struggle for votes. Looks, demeanor and charisma are extremely important. And it’s no coincidence that every Idol winner so far has hailed from a Southern state.
Elimination Props
Every week MySportsbook.com anticipates offering a prop on who’ll be eliminated from the show each Wednesday night. A suggestion to handicap this is to gauge an overall feel for who’s the least popular contestant left in the competition. Generally the least popular performers have recently appeared in the bottom three and will have been the target of repeated criticism from the judges.
Last year, resources included dialidol.com and votefortheworst.com. Dialidol.com measures the volume of each contestant’s voting line. While by no means a perfect science, it does give a good indication of who is generating votes and who isn’t. Meanwhile, votefortheworst.com is a site that attempts to build support for the worst competitor to keep them in the competition for ‘entertainment’ value. The site has a proven track record of keeping performers around who most feel should have been voted off a long time ago.
Contestant vs. Contestant Match-ups
The best strategy for doing well on match-ups is to assess how close either of the contestants is to being eliminated. If neither is expected to be voted off of the show in the coming weeks, the value is almost always on the underdog. If both are expecting an imminent exit in the near future, the favorite in the match-up might offer value.
Watch for American Idol betting odds on each of the contestants shortly and good luck with these American Idol betting strategies.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.