Orioles aim for rare sweep of Yanks in the Bronx
Baseball Betting Lines
09/08/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles have been the worst team in the American League all season. Today, though, the Orioles will have a chance to do something against the best team in baseball that they haven't done in more than 24 years, as they try and complete a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
The Orioles, who have won in just four of their previous 21 visits to the Bronx, last swept the Yankees in a three-game series there back in June of 1986. Baltimore has taken the first two games of this set, including a rare win over CC Sabathia on Tuesday. Nolan Reimold hit a two-run home run and Adam Jones had a key two-run single to back the solid pitching of Jake Arrieta in the Orioles' 6-2 triumph.
Nick Markakis and Ty Wigginton each had a pair of hits, scored once and drove in a run for the Birds, who have won four straight over Tampa Bay and New York, the top two teams in the AL East.
Baltimore is 21-13 since Buck Showalter took over the club in August and hasn't won five in a row since June 17-21, 2009, all against interleague opponents.
Arrieta (5-6) earned the win after holding the hosts to two runs on eight hits while walking only one and striking out three for Baltimore.
"The opportunities don't come around that often. Everybody is watching and as an athlete you want to be on center stage and perform well while you're there," Arrieta said when asked about the team's recent success against potentially playoff bound teams."
Sabathia (19-6), meanwhile, was charged with six runs -- five earned -- on nine hits with a walk and five strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings to suffer his first loss at home since July 2, 2009 for the Yankees, who saw their lead trimmed to 1 1/2 games in the AL East over Tampa Bay, which defeated Boston at Fenway Park.
"They were just aggressive, swinging early and it took my aggressiveness away," said Sabathia, who also lost for the first time in nine starts to the O's. "We tried to mix it up early in the count but I wasn't able to get my secondary pitches over for strikes. They got some balls to hit and didn't miss them."
Hoping to get the Yankees off the schneid this afternoon will be right-handed rookie Ivan Nova, who is 1-0 in his four starts with a 2.89 earned run average. Nova made his Yankee Stadium debut on Friday against Toronto, but did not get a decision as he allowed three runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings of his team's 7-3 win.
Nova, who will be facing the O's for the first time, has yet to get out of the sixth inning in any of his starts, but New York's bullpen has been terrific of late. Since July 26 Yankee relievers have pitched to a 1.54 ERA and have allowed only one run in the club's last seven games, a span of 20 1/3 innings.
Baltimore will counter with right-hander Brad Bergesen, who has allowed three or fewer runs in six of his last seven starts and has worked at least seven innings in five of those outings. However, he was charged with the loss on Thursday against Boston, which reached him for five runs (two earned) and eight hits in 5 1/3 frames, dropping him to 6-10 to go along with a 5.47 ERA.
Bergesen lost to the Yankees back on June 2 when he could not get out of the third inning and is 0-2 in two starts against them with a 10.38 ERA.
New York has won 10 of its 14 matchups with the O's this season.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Wakefield gets the call on short notice this evening when the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays play the rubber match of their three-game series at Fenway Park. After getting blown out in the opener of this set
<< Mets to wrap up long trip with matinee against Nats
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Apparently, winning four straight games just isn't the
Washington Nationals' thing.
After failing to win more than three games in a row for the seventh time this
season, Washington instead seeks a series victory over the N
<< Stampeders and Eskimos meet for second time this week
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Friday night brings out the best and the worst
in the Canadian Football League as the slumping Edmonton Eskimos entertain the
high-flying Calgary Stampeders in a Western Division showdown at Commonwealth
Stadium.
<< Lions seek second straight upset in clash with Argos
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off a huge upset win against the
Montreal Alouettes, the British Columbia Lions shoot for back-to-back
victories for the first time in 2010 as they entertain the Toronto Argonauts
on Saturday afternoon at
<< Familiar foes do battle in Winnipeg
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the second time in as many weeks the
Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers find themselves pitted
against each other on the gridiron, this time at Canad Inns Stadium on Sunday
afternoon.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Injuries are starting to pile up for the Chicago White Sox. Today, the short-handed White Sox will continue their push towards the postseason, as they play the third installment of a four-game series against the
Angels try to avoid rare sweep at hands of Indians >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Angels haven't been swept by Cleveland at home in more
than a decade. They'll try to avoid that distinction tonight in the finale of
a three-game series from the Big A.
Anaheim was previously swept in this series from
Astros, Cubs wrap set at Wrigley Field >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros have to be thinking about returning home
for an extended period of time. But first they have to take care of business
in the Windy City, as the Astros shoot for a series win over the Chicago Cubs
tonight in
Rangers hope to lasso win over Jays up north >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers are doing their best to give away the
lead in the American League West. Luckily for them, though, nobody else seems
to want it. Tonight, the Rangers try to snap a five-game losing streak when
they co
Twins close out homestand with Royals >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins will close out another successful home
stand this evening, when the American League Central leaders take aim at a
series sweep of the Kansas City Royals at Target Field.
The Twins have gone 7-1 thus far
Sportsbooks to bet on football
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. World Series odds are now up as well.
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 football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
Credit Card Betting: Sportsbook accepts U.S. credit cards
Online Sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard
MySportsbook.com is the best at processing US credit cards for deposits. Welcome to the most player friendly online sportsbook on the planet!
The principals behind MySportsbook are obviously a management group that understands the players needs as evidenced by their commitment to provide easy depositing with their high credit card acceptance rate and free weekly $10 bets they offer to clients with active betting accounts.
The perks don't end there! MySportsbook offers casino, poker and horses as well. Twice named Best Sportsbook by eGaming Review, this place is rock solid financially so you don't ever have to sweat the payout as you may with some other online bookies operating with less betting volume and client base.
Sign up today and grab your share of a 10% bonus that is added instantly to your betting account. Enjoy 52 risk free bets throughout the year as well!
Reasons to Play There: You have to see their no hitter, cycle hitter and slaughter rule promos for baseball. Worth a laugh and probably a few bucks throughout the MLB season. They offer supersized bonuses of 15% if you up your minimum deposit to $500 or more. Lay -105 on Friday NBA! Contests during the NFL football season!