Moehler, Astros dominate Padres
Baseball Betting Lines
07/02/2009 - San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran Brian Moehler, largely ineffective so far this season, pitched six solid innings of one-run ball and a three-run throwing error by Chase Headley opened the floodgates, as Houston buried San Diego, 7-1, at Petco Park.
Moehler (5-4) scattered four hits with four walks and eight strikeouts, while his counterpart Walter Silva (0-2) was hit for six runs -- three earned -- on five hits with one walk and two strikeouts over four frames.
Kaz Matsui drove in a run and Darin Erstad scored twice for the Astros, who have split their last four games.
Tony Gwynn, Jr. finished 2-for-5 and Eliezer Alfonzo accounted for San Diego's lone run with a solo home run. The Padres have lost two of three.
San Diego scored the game's first run on Alfonzo's solo shot to dead center in the second, but its bats were quieted for the remainder of the game.
Houston did all of the damage it needed in the fourth. Miguel Tejada, Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee hit successive singles, the last scoring Tejada for a tie game. After a mound conference, Geoff Blum singled home Berkman, and one out later, Erstad walked to load the bases. Matsui then punched a single to deep short, scoring one, and the pitcher Moehler reached on a wild throw by Headley at third, clearing the bases for a 6-1 advantage.
The Astros piled on one more run in the ninth on Matt Kata's sacrifice fly that scored Erstad.
Game Notes
Moehler has won his last three starts...Headley's costly error was his third of the season...Scott Hairston stole his seventh base for the Padres...Lee now has 46 RBI on the campaign...Moehler threw 74 of his 115 pitches for strikes...Attendance 16,670.
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Today's contest was original
Betting Football
NFL Football Betting OnlineIs 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.