Padres rally past Dodgers; Ramirez homers

Baseball Betting Lines

07/04/2009 - San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Everth Cabrera went 2-for-4 with three runs batted in, as the San Diego Padres used late rallies to down Los Angeles, 7-4, in the middle installment of a three-game series.

Cabrera, David Eckstein and Adrian Gonzalez -- the Padres' top three hitters -- combined to go 6-for-14 with six runs batted in, helping San Diego snap a three-game losing streak.

Padres starter Josh Geer allowed two runs over 6 1/3 innings, while Greg Burke (1-0) took the win after getting the final two outs of the seventh. San Diego scored three runs in both the seventh and eighth innings to take the victory.

Manny Ramirez hit his first home run since returning from his 50-game suspension Friday, when he went 0-for-3 with a walk. The solo shot was the 534th of his career, tying him with Jimmie Foxx for 16th on the career list, but it wasn't enough to help the Dodgers win for the third consecutive game.

After LA starter Randy Wolf gave up one run in six innings, in which he struck out eight, Ronald Belisario (1-3) gave up three runs in the seventh while recording one out. Ramon Troncoso allowed three more runs -- all unearned -- after replacing Belisario.

In a 1-1 game, the Dodgers took the lead in the top of the seventh when Casey Blake scored on Burke's wild pitch.

But the Padres went in front in the home half, which Eliezer Alfonzo began with a walk. Tony Gwynn, Jr. singled to put runners at the corners before Belisario hit Kyle Blanks. Cabrera then smacked a two-run single to right, and Eckstein bunted into a fielder's choice. Gonzalez singled home Cabrera to make it a 4-2 game and chase Belisario. Troncoso came in and got out of the jam.

The Dodgers got a run back in the eighth on Andre Ethier's run-scoring groundout, but San Diego again scored three in the home half. After Alfonzo singled with one away, Gwynn reached on an error by second baseman Juan Castro.

Heath Bell bunted the runners over for Cabrera, whose infield single plated Alfonzo. Gwynn scored on Blake's throwing error, and Cabrera went to third, then scored on Eckstein's single to make it 7-3.

Matt Kemp's RBI single off Bell in the ninth got the Dodgers within three, but the Padres closer kept LA off the scoreboard from there to notch his 23rd save. Bell tossed the final 1 2/3 innings for San Diego.

Ramirez's homer to left in the first inning made it a 1-0 game until Eckstein's RBI single in the third tied the contest.

Game Notes

Alfonzo replaced starting Padres catcher Henry Blanco, who left the game after two innings with a leg injury...The Padres were 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position, while LA was 1-for-7.

Onlinesportsbookgambling Baseball Betting News


<< Punto, Twins edge Tigers
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Punto's RBI single in the eighth inning helped the Minnesota Twins take a 4-3 win over the Detroit Tigers in the second of a three-game set at the Metrodome. Justin Morneau went 4-for-4 wit

<< Williams sisters take doubles title at Wimbledon
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The dominating Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, won the doubles final on Saturday at Wimbledon, just hours after the sisters faced each other in the single's final. Serena and Venus needed

<< Moyer, bullpen help Phils take down Mets
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jamie Moyer pitched into the seventh inning and the Philadelphia bullpen did the rest, helping the Phillies upend the Mets 4-1 in the second of a three-game series between the NL East rivals. Moyer

<< Lincecum again dominant; Giants continue to pound Astros pitching
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Lincecum fired seven innings of three-hit shutout ball, and the Giants bats produced a second straight solid effort in a 9-0 win against the Astros. Lincecum (9-2), fresh off being named the

<< Angels bring back Kendrick; option Rodriguez
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Angels have recalled infielder Howie Kendrick from Triple-A Salt Lake and optioned infielder Sean Rodriguez back to the club's top affiliate. The move reverses a transaction originally made on Jun

DeLaet leads Edmonton Open by two >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Graham DeLaet posted a two-under 70 Saturday to take a two-stroke lead after three rounds of the Edmonton Open. DeLaet, who shared the second-round lead with Brady Stockton and Jim Rutledge, completed 54 hol

Marlins get by Pirates >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Emilio Bonifacio went 3-for-4 with two runs scored to help the Florida Marlins take a 5-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second game of a three-game set. Hanley Ramirez went 2-for-4 with a two-run

Valbuena and Francisco help Indians past A's >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luis Valbuena and Ben Francisco each went 3- for-3, with Valbuena knocking in a run and scoring twice and Francisco adding a two-run homer in Cleveland's 5-2 win over Oakland. Carl Pavano (7-7) evened his

Blue Jays place P Richmond on DL >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays placed pitcher Scott Richmond on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 1, with a sore shoulder. Richmond is 6-5 with a 3.69 earned-run average in 16 games, 13 starts,

Wang leaves game; likely to go on DL >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang left Saturday's 6-5, 12-inning victory against the Toronto Blue Jays with a shoulder injury, and an MRI after the game indicated he may be headed to the disable

Sportsbook Betting Lines

Who Makes the Sportsbook Betting Lines?

Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.

“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.

“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “

What are the Football Betting Lines Trying to Accomplish?

There is a common misconception that point spreads represent the oddsmakers’ prediction of how many points the favorite will win by. That is not the case at all – their intent is NOT to evenly split the ATS result between the teams; rather, their goal is to attract equal betting action on both sides. Stated another way, they want to create a line that half the people find appealing to bet one way while the other half find it appealing to bet the other way (known as ‘dividing the action’).

Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).

How the Opening Line Is Made

The opening line is the first line created by the oddsmakers, which is then sent out to sportsbooks. Of course there is an entire method to the madness on how the opening line is created. Seba explained that it all starts with each oddsmaker creating a line on each game based upon their own personal approach. This usually includes having up-to-date power ratings on each team.

Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.

Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.

Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.

The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.

A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.

Why Sports Betting Lines Change

Once the opening line is released by LVSC, the individual sportsbooks decide if they want to make any adjustments before offering it to the public. Reasons for such adjustments include:

Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game

Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)

The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.

Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.

For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.

Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."

“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”

To visit this internet sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your sports betting needs and World Series odds.

MySportsbook features easy-to-use online betting software that’s the most reliable in the industry. If you’re looking to bet underdogs, then this Sportsbook is the place - we have the best betting lines in the business. MySportsbook is your one-stop shop for all your betting needs - sports betting, poker, casino, and horse betting . MySportsbook offers every bet type with lightning fast settlement of wagers. Take advantage of free statistical analysis - including against-the-spread and straight-up trends - in MySportsbook’s game previews section. With MySportsbook there are unlimited free deposits and payouts - and no transaction fees!

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football sportsbook needs.