Cabrera's home run carries Cleveland past Royals

Baseball Betting Lines

08/28/2010 - Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Asdrubal Cabrera's home run leading off the 10th inning was the difference, as the Indians beat the Royals, 4-3, in the second of three games at Progressive Field.

Cabrera finished with two hits for the Indians, who have won three straight. Shin-Shoo Choo added two RBI, while Michael Brantley had two hits, an RBI and a run scored in the win.

Chris Perez (2-2) got the win for a scoreless inning of work. Jeanmar Gomez was in line for the win initially after giving up two runs on six hits and two walks in 5 2/3 frames.

Wilson Betemit homered and drove in all three runs for the Royals, who have lost four of five. Zack Greinke lasted eight innings, allowing three runs, eight hits and four walks, but Jesse Chavez (2-2) was saddled with the loss after giving up Cabrera's blast.

Brantley led off the bottom of the first with a double, moved to third on Cabrera's sacrifice and scored on Choo's groundout.

The Indians added two more runs in the second.

Matt LaPorta doubled with one out, and Lou Marson drew a two-out walk. Brantley followed with an RBI single, and Cabrera and Choo both walked consecutively to force in another run, increasing the cushion to 3-0.

The Royals threatened in the fifth, putting runners on the corners with nobody out, but Gomez induced a fly out from Chris Getz and got Gregor Blanco to line into a double play to escape unscathed.

Kansas City finally got on the board in the sixth on Betemit's two-run homer, but Tony Sipp limited the damage in the inning and threw a scoreless seventh to keep Cleveland ahead.

The Royals, though, tied the game in the eighth.

Joe Smith issued a leadoff walk to Jason Kendall, and Rafael Perez entered and threw a wild pitch to allow Kendall to scamper to second. Betemit followed with an RBI double, though Rafael Perez was able to keep the game tied through the ninth.

Game Notes

The season series is tied, 5-5...The Indians are 5-3 in extra-inning games, while the Royals are 10-6...Chris Perez has allowed just two earned runs in his last 23 1/3 innings pitched since June 28...Cabrera hit his first career game-ending home run.

Wwwarcamax Baseball Betting News

<< Pit gamble pays off for Franchitti in Chicagoland win
Joliet, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dario Franchitti gave his IZOD IndyCar Series title defense a huge boost by winning Saturday's Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway. Franchitti opted not to take on new tires and too

<< Eskimos score 17 unanswered points to stun Roughriders
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Noel Prefontaine's 37-yard field goal in the final minute of play proved to be the difference, as the Edmonton Eskimos stunned the Saskatchewan Roughriders, 17-14, at Commonwealth Stadium. Prefontaine

<< Hudson fans career-best 13 as Braves pummel Marlins
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Hudson struck out a career-high 13 in seven strong innings, and the Atlanta Braves pummeled the Florida Marlins, 12- 3, to avoid their first home series loss since April. Hudson (15-5) exceeded his p

<< Dunn, Nats clobber Cardinals
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Dunn hit a three-run homer and doubled in two more as Washington thumped the Cardinals, 14-5, in the continuation of a four-game series. Roger Bernadina had a two-run home run and sco

<< Houston's Myers upends Santana, Mets
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brett Myers tossed seven strong scoreless innings while Carlos Lee hit a two-run shot and drove in three runs as Houston downed the New York Mets, 4-1, in the middle test of three between the clubs at Citi

Flacco leads Ravens over Giants >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Flacco played into the third quarter and passed for 229 yards and two touchdowns on 21-of-34 efficiency, pacing the Ravens over the Giants, 24-10, in preseason action. Flacco was also picked off on

Braden tosses four-hitter as A's down Rangers >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Braden threw his second shutout of the season to lift the Oakland Athletics to a 5-0 win over the Texas Rangers in the second of a three-game set. Braden (9-9) gave up just four hits and struck

Johnson's 10th-inning homer gets Rays past Red Sox >>
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Johnson's leadoff homer to right field in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted Tampa Bay over Boston, 3-2, in the second of three between the clubs at Tropicana Field. The hit made a wi

Yankees outslug White Sox >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie Eduardo Nunez hit his first career home run and drove in a total of four runs, as the New York Yankees outlasted the Chicago White Sox, 12-9, in the second test of a three-game set from U.S. Cellula

Cowboys' offense struggles again in loss to Texans >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Schaub threw for 183 yards and a touchdown, and Arian Foster rushed for 110 yards in Houston's 23-7 win over Dallas at Reliant Stadium. Schaub connected on 18-of-29 throws, while Andre John

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.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs.

Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional basketball lines can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.