Boston hopes Lester can remain perfect against O's
Baseball Betting Lines
09/01/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox may not have had the success they've enjoyed in the past against the Baltimore Orioles this season, but Jon Lester has certainly been able to maintain his dominance over the course of this series.
The Boston ace will put his still-unbeaten record versus the Orioles on the line and try to give the Red Sox a much-needed victory in tonight's clash between the longtime American League East foes from Camden Yards.
Lester enters this evening's matchup sporting an astounding 12-0 ledger along with a 2.00 earned run average over 15 career meetings with Baltimore, and the Red Sox have come out on top in all but one of those games. The All-Star hurler has been especially masterful in this year's matchups, as he's yielded only a single run over 19 innings in three 2010 starts against the Orioles, winning twice and registering one no-decision.
The standout lefty has also been tough on most other opponents as of late, save for a horrendous start against Toronto on August 20 in which he was rocked for nine runs and eight hits in just two innings. Lester bounced back strongly in a big game at playoff contender Tampa Bay this past Friday, however, limiting the Rays to an unearned run and a mere two hits while racking up 10 strikeouts to lead Boston to a 3-1 decision.
Lester has yet to allow an earned run in any of his past three road outings -- all victories -- and improved to 8-3 with an excellent 2.27 ERA in 15 starts away from home this year with Friday's verdict.
Boston could use another top-notch performance out of its top starter after losing Tuesday's opener of this three-game series with the Orioles. The 5-2 setback dropped the Sox to eight games behind the rival New York Yankees for first place in the AL East, though they remained seven in back of the front- running Rays in the Wild Card race after Tampa fell to Toronto last night.
Luke Scott and Felix Pie each hit home runs and Baltimore received solid pitching once again to notch its fourth win in a row. The Orioles were coming off a three-game road sweep of the Angels in which the team surrendered only a single run during the entire series.
Rookie Brian Matusz (7-12) held Boston to two runs and struck out six over the first six innings to extend his personal win streak to three games, with relievers Jim Johnson, Mike Gonzalez and Koji Uehara combining for three scoreless frames to close out the contest. Uehara set down all five batters he faced to earn his fifth save of the year.
"I thought [Matusz] was good," said Boston's Jed Lowrie. "He mixed his pitches well. He executed pitches when he had to."
Scott gave Baltimore an early 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the second and homered off reliever Felix Doubront in the eighth for a 4-2 advantage. Pie went deep two batters later to lengthen the margin to three runs.
"Obviously it was a big eighth inning for us," said Orioles manager Buck Showalter. "It felt like the ballgame was kind of riding in that area."
Lowrie finished 2-for-3 and accounted for the Red Sox' only scoring with a two-run homer against Matusz in the fifth. Starter Josh Beckett (4-4) worked seven innings for Boston, but was saddled with the loss after permitting three runs (two earned) on seven hits.
The Orioles now hold a 7-6 edge on the Red Sox in this year's season series following Tuesday's triumph, with Boston having lost five of the seven bouts that have taken place in Camden Yards. Baltimore is still just 10-29 over the last 39 games played between the teams, however.
Jake Arrieta will get his first taste of this rivalry when the rookie takes the mound for Baltimore tonight. The promising right-hander will be out to halt a string of three consecutive losing starts after winning four of seven decisions to begin his big-league tenure.
Arrieta struggled in a road defeat to the Chicago White Sox last Thursday, issuing three walks while being reached for four runs on seven hits before exiting after four innings. He was a bit better in his previous assignment, tossing 6 2/3 innings of two-run ball against Texas on August 20 despite coming out on the short end of a 2-0 decision.
The 24-year-old hopes to improve upon a 1-3 record and 5.40 ERA in seven home starts since being promoted from Triple-A Norfolk in mid-June.
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Second baseman Ia
College Football Betting Tips From a Pro
While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.