Angels hang on to beat Tigers, win fifth straight

Baseball Betting Lines

04/21/2010 - Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Howie Kendrick drove in three runs, and Scott Kazmir allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings, as the Angels hung on to take down the Tigers, 6-5, in the second of a four-game set at Angel Stadium.

Hideki Matsui added a two-run double, and Kendry Morales finished with three hits and two runs scored for the Angels, who have won five games in a row.

Kazmir (1-1) allowed two runs on six hits with no walks and seven strikeouts. Fernando Rodney racked up his fifth save after tossing a scoreless ninth.

"I had good life on my fastball and I kept them off balance with the changeup," said Kazmir. "The bottom line was my location on my fastball. I kept them guessing.

Miguel Cabrera drove in three runs, and Brandon Inge doubled in two more for Detroit, which fell for the fifth time in six contests.

Rick Porcello (1-1) struggled, allowing six runs on eight hits in just 4 1/3 innings.

"We battled our tails off," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland. "We played nine hard innings and came up a little bit short. I was happy with our nine innings. We stayed with it."

The Angels took a 3-0 lead in the second. After Morales and Juan Rivera singled with one out, Maicer Izturis brought home one run with a single and Kendrick followed with a two-run double.

Kendrick gave LA a 4-0 advantage on a one-out fielder's choice in the fourth Morales came around to score after leading off with a single, taking second on a wild pitch and moving to third on Izturis' walk after Rivera was hit by a pitch.

Matsui roped a one-out double to right-center in the fifth to plate Erick Aybar and Bobby Abreu and hand the Angels a 6-0 edge. Aybar led off with a double, advanced to second on Abreu's walk and found third on a wild pitch. Abreu stole second.

Detroit found the scoreboard in the sixth. Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen each singled after each of the first two outs. Jason Bulger then entered in relief and surrendered an Ingle double, plating both runners.

Scot Shields allowed Detroit to load the bases in the seventh and was replaced by Matt Palmer, who surrendered a Cabrera three-run double to plate pinch- hitter Ramon Santiago, Austin Jackson and Ordonez to slim the Tigers deficit to 6-5. Guillen then walked to put runners on first and second, but Inge popped out to end the threat.

Kevin Jepsen and Rodney closed out the game in the eighth and ninth for the Angels. Detroit threatened in the eighth with consecutive two-out singles from Santiago and Jackson, but Johnny Damon ended the frame with a strikeout.

Game Notes

With one stolen base in the game, Abreu became the only active player with at least 350 steals and 250 home runs (258)...The Angels are 55-19 at home vs. the Tigers since 1996...Detroit ended 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position, but out-hit LA, 11-10...Johnny Damon finished 2-for-5 for the Tigers.

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MySportsbook.com Posts Heisman Trophy Odds

With 3,919 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and a mere seven interceptions last season, combined with a powerful South Bend Heisman legacy, odds makers at MySportsbook.com have given Notre Dame senior quarterback Brady Quinn the best Heisman Trophy odds at 5-2.

Quinn isn’t the only big man on campus this season.  Oklahoma junior running back and 2004 Heisman runner-up Adrian Peterson, listed at 7-2, rushed for a combined 3,033 yards in his first two years as a college player and will give Quinn a run for his money. 

This online sportsbook has also listed Troy Smith, Ohio State senior quarterback, as another strong favorite to win the 72nd Heisman Trophy.  A 7-1 bet, Smith threw for 2,282 yards last season and also led the Buckeyes to a convincing 34-20 victory over Quinn and the Fighting Irish in last season’s Fiesta Bowl.

Current betting odds Heisman trophy are:

Brady Quinn (QB, Notre Dame)
Adrian Peterson (RB, Oklahoma)
Troy Smith (QB, Ohio State)
Michael Bush (RB, Louisville)
Steve Slaton (RB, West Virginia)
Brian Brohm (QB, Louisville)
Chris Leak (QB, Florida)
Mike Hart (RB, Michigan)
Ted Ginn (WR, Ohio State)
Darius Walker (RB, Notre Dame)
Drew Tate (QB, Iowa)
Marshawn Lynch (RB, Cal)
Kenny Irons (RB, Auburn)
Chad Henne (QB, Michigan)
Kyle Wright (QB, Miami)
Drew Stanton (QB, Michigan State)
Kenneth Darby (RB, Alabama)
JaMarcus Russell (QB, LSU)
Drew Weatherford (QB, Florida State)
Blake Mitchell (QB, South Carolina)
Reggie Ball (QB, Georgia Tech)		 5-2
7-2
7-1
10-1
10-1
12-1
12-1
18-1
18-1
20-1
30-1
35-1
35-1
40-1
50-1
50-1
60-1
60-1
60-1
60-1
60-1

For complete NCAA Football odds visit MySportsbook.com.

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.