Reds, Cards close big series in St. Louis

Baseball Betting Lines

09/05/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It is starting to appear as if the Cincinnati Reds are headed towards their first National League Central title since 1995.

Today, they try to put even more distance between themselves and the St. Louis Cardinals, as they go for a series win in the rubber match of their three-game series at Busch Stadium.

However, the Reds will be facing one of the best pitchers in baseball in righty Chris Carpenter, who has owned them over the course of his career, posting an 11-3 mark to go along with a 2.00 earned run average in 17 starts.

Carpenter, though, absorbed the loss on Tuesday in Houston, as the Astros reached him for three runs (two earned) and six hits in seven innings. He is 14-5 on the year with a 2.92 ERA, but has lost two of his last three decisions.

The Reds upped their division lead on the Cards to eight on Saturday, as Travis Wood turned in seven solid innings and hit his first career home run to lead Cincinnati to a 6-1 victory. Jonny Gomes had a two-run double in the first inning and Brandon Phillips made it a three-run margin in the second with an RBI single, as the Reds won for the seventh time in nine contests.

Wood (5-2) allowed an unearned run and five hits while fanning three and walking two for his fifth win in seven starts. It was his first career matchup against the Cardinals, who had won five in a row in the series.

Adam Wainwright (17-10) again failed in his bid to become the National League's first 18-game winner. In fact, the right-hander extended a career- high losing streak to four consecutive starts while St. Louis fell for the ninth time in 11 tries.

"I don't like losing one game, much less four in a row," Wainwright said. "I won't lose again."

Wainwright was charged with seven hits and five runs, only two of those earned, while fanning six and walking one over five innings. Matt Holliday had two hits and an RBI for the Cards, who opened the series Friday with a 3-2 win.

Hoping to pitch the Reds to a series win this afternoon will be righty Homer Bailey, who is 3-2 with a 4.92 ERA. Bailey did not get a decision on Monday against Milwaukee, as he allowed four runs in six innings of his team's 5-4 win.

Bailey did not get a decision the last time he faced the Cards and is just 1-3 in six starts against them with a 6.04 ERA.

The Cardinals have won 11 of 17 versus the Reds this year.

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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.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.

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