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07/03/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - He won't have the home crowd on his side until after the All-Star break, but Los Angeles Dodgers star left fielder Manny Ramirez probably doesn't mind, since he is finally done serving his 50-game suspension for violating the league's policy on performance enhancing drugs.
Ramirez will lead the Dodgers into Petco Park Friday night for the first of three straight matchups against the NL West-rival San Diego Padres.
Ramirez was slapped with the suspension back on May 7 after testing positive for a banned substance, and the Dodgers played to a solid 29-21 mark without the slugger in the lineup. Ramirez, whose bobblehead giveaway is scheduled for July 22 at Chavez Ravine, made a few rehab stints in the minor leagues to get back into shape.
"Hopefully, Manny will give us a more consistent offense," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said on the team's site. "We've been lucky to win a lot of close games. We've made the most out of the runs we've scored. But I think the presence he brings to the lineup is a security blanket for the rest of the guys."
The Dodgers didn't really miss a beat without Ramirez in the lineup and still sit atop the NL West with a comfortable 7 1/2-game lead over San Francisco. They were 6 1/2 games ahead of the Giants and 21-8 when the All-Star was suspended in early May. Ramirez was hitting .348 with six homers and 20 RBI at the time.
LA still has the best record in baseball and got a huge lift from Juan Pierre in Ramirez's absence. Pierre started all 50 games in left field and did a fine job for Torre, going 68-for-214 for a .318 average and compiling 14 doubles, 21 RBI, 31 runs, 15 walks and 20 steals in those games. Pierre had a hit in Wednesday's 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies in the finale of a three- game series in Los Angeles.
Rafael Furcal drove in the lone run with a pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth inning and Brad Ausmus delivered the lone multi-hit performance for the victors, going 2-for-3 at the plate.
Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw tossed five shutout innings in the no-decision, while Ramon Troncoso earned the win with a scoreless eighth and Jonathan Broxton posted two strikeouts in the ninth for his 19th save for Los Angeles, which became the first team in the majors to reach 50 wins (50-29). Ronald Belisario also helped the cause by hurling two shutout innings of relief.
The Dodgers won two of three meetings versus Colorado and will kick off a nine-game road trip against the Padres, Mets and Brewers on Friday.
Los Angeles will hand the ball to Hiroki Kuroda for tonight's game, and he is just 1-4 in six starts since beating San Diego on Opening Day. Kuroda lost his most recent outing on Sunday versus Seattle, as he yielded four runs and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings of a 4-2 loss.
Kuroda, who is 2-4 with a 3.77 ERA in seven starts this season, will face the Padres for the second time in 2009. The right-hander allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings of a 4-1 triumph at Petco Park on April 6, improving to 3-1 with a 4.78 ERA in five career starts against San Diego.
Meanwhile, the Padres just dropped three of four to the Houston Astros and are coming off Thursday's 7-2 setback at Petco Park. Scott Hairston and Everth Cabrera each drove in a run, while starting pitcher Kevin Correia allowed six runs on eight hits with three walks and three strikeouts over five innings to suffer the loss.
"I made a couple of mistakes and they took advantage," said Correia. "It wasn't my day today. Especially that last inning, that's what killed me and the game."
Correia permitted three runs in the fifth for the Padres, who have dropped six of their last nine games.
Taking the hill for the Friars tonight will be Chad Gaudin, who has won two straight starts since going 0-3 through his previous four outings. Gaudin started the streak with seven innings of two-run ball and struck out 11 in a 9-7 victory at Seattle on June 23, then tossed eight shutout innings and recorded nine strikeouts five days later in a 2-0 win at Texas.
Gaudin is 4-6 in 13 games (12 starts) this season and lowered his earned run average from 5.60 to 4.97 the last time out. The righty will face the Dodgers for the second time this season after losing to them on May 3 at Chavez Ravine. Gaudin was tagged for six runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings of a 7-3 setback.
He is 0-1 with a 9.45 ERA in two career games (1 start) against Los Angeles.
The Dodgers have won seven of 10 matchups with the Padres this season and 11 of the last 15 contests between the clubs.
<< Rockies to open homestand with last-place Diamondbacks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies are back home after a lengthy road
trip and will open a three-game series tonight against the National League
West-rival Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field.
Colorado went 5-4 on a nine-game road swing
<< Reeling Indians try to get back on track vs. A's
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians have been playing poorly since mid-
June and will try to stop a five-game losing streak tonight in the opener of a
three-game series versus the Oakland Athletics at Progressive Field.
The Indians have
<< Twins try to gain ground in Central in opener with Tigers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins have an opportunity to gain some
ground on the division-leading Detroit Tigers when the American League Central
rivals begin a key three-game series tonight at the Metrodome.
The Twins presently trail
<< 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
Serena and Venus will decide Wimbledon champ on Saturday >>
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Serena Williams and third-
seeded Venus Williams will square off in Saturday's ladies' final at
Wimbledon, where Venus topped her younger sister in last year's third all-
Williams f
Rangers sign Arnason >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Rangers inked forward Tyler
Arnason to a two-way contract on Friday.
The 30-year-old posted five goals and 22 points in 71 games for the Avalanche
last season.
Over 487 career contests
Blue Jays bring up Dellucci, designate Adams for assignment >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays purchased the contract of
outfielder David Dellucci from Triple-A Las Vegas and designated infielder
Russ Adams for assignment on Friday.
The 35-year-old Dellucci signed a minor lea
Sol's Abily claims WPS Player of Month >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Sol midfielder Camille Abily
was selected as the WPS Player of the Month for June.
The 24-year-old French international from Rennes had five goals in the month
of June, helping the Sol to
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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