05/13/2008 - San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roy Oswalt threw eight innings, retiring the final 14 batters he faced, as the Houston Astros continued their momentous May with a 7-3 win over the San Francisco Giants.
Lance Berkman continued his hot stretch, going 3-for-4 with a two-run homer for the Astros, who are 9-1 this month. Berkman tied a club record by scoring in his 15th straight game. He's on an 11-game hitting streak, batting .393 this season, including a .509 average since April 26.
Oswalt (4-3), who won his fourth consecutive decision, allowed five hits and three runs while fanning six without issuing a walk. It was just his second win (2-5) in San Francisco.
Jose Valverde came on in the ninth inning and notched his ninth save. He retired pinch-hitter Ray Durham on a fly ball with the bases loaded to end the game, as Houston continued its success on a season-long 10-game road trip.
John Bowker hit a solo homer for the Giants, who have dropped six of their last eight games.
Barry Zito avoided moving to 0-8 this season as he had probably his best outing of the season, giving up seven hits and three runs over six innings in the no-decision. The lefty, pitching on the eve of his 30th birthday, walked one and struck out two. The three runs he received equaled the best run support he's had all season.
Vinnie Chulk (0-1) gave up the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and was saddled with the loss in the opener of the four-game series.
The Astros, coming off a sweep in Los Angeles, went ahead with a foul ball sacrifice fly in the seventh. Jose Cruz and Brad Ausmus singled to start the inning, and after Oswalt struck out, Hunter Pence lofted a fly ball tight to the line in right field. Randy Winn made the catch just in front of the stands, but his throw home was late as Houston took a 4-3 lead.
Houston loaded the bases in the next inning against Merkin Valdez on a Berkman double, an intentional walk to Carlos Lee and a beaning of Ty Wigginton. Cruz then singled to right field for a run, and Keiichi Yabu came in, but his pick- off try at first went wide and caromed down the right field line, allowing another run to score. To complicate matters, second baseman Eugenio Velez threw high to home plate, and the Astros went ahead 7-3.
Geoff Geary had trouble closing out the game in the ninth, and Rich Aurilia's bunt single off Valverde loaded the bases before Durham recorded the last out.
Fred Lewis and Omar Vizquel had back-to-back RBI doubles in the third for the Giants, and it became 3-0 in the fourth on Bowker's fourth homer of the season, a shot to right. However, Oswalt retired the next 14 hitters.
Houston tied it in the sixth. Pence and Mark Loretta singled to start the inning and Miguel Tejada followed with a sacrifice fly to right. Berkman then homered for the 13th time this season, a shot to left-center. The 13 homers ties Philadelphia's Chase Utley for the most in the majors this season.
Game Notes
Carlos Beltran also scored a run in 15 straight games for Houston during the 2004 season...Pence has a 10-game hitting streak...Ausmus recorded his 1,500th hit, becoming the eighth catcher to reach 1,500 hits and 100 steals...Vizquel played in his 2,573rd game at shortstop, which is 10 behind Luis Aparicio for most all-time.
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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.
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