Yanks hope to stay hot against Toronto

Baseball Betting Lines

07/05/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The red-hot New York Yankees will try to continue their strong play when they take on the Toronto Blue Jays in the third installment of a four-game set at Yankee Stadium.

Brett Cecil will toe the rubber for the Blue Jays this afternoon, as the southpaw will be filling in for Scott Richmond, who was placed on the 15- day disabled list with shoulder tendinitis. Cecil has gained some experience this season, making six starts on the year.

However, his last start was a nightmare, as the young hurler was tortured by Cincinnati. In the 7-5 loss to the Reds, Cecil was hammered for five runs on nine hits in three innings of work.

This will be Cecil's first-career start against New York.

For the Yankees to be successful today they will need Joba Chamberlain, who has one victory in his last five starts, to return to his early season form.

New York's flamethrower only lasted 5 1/3 innings in his last start, allowing three runs on nine hits against Seattle. New York eventually won the game by an 8-5 margin, but the confident right-hander did not factor in the decision.

The Nebraska native has made nine appearances against Toronto (two starts) and his time on the mound against the Blue Jays has been very successful. In 19 2/3 innings of work against Toronto, Chamberlain owns a 1.83 earned run average and has 29 strike outs in 19 2/3 innings.

On Saturday, Jorge Posada's single in the bottom of the 12th inning lifted the Yankees to a 6-5 win over Toronto.

Posada also hit a homer and finished with two RBI, Johnny Damon hit a two-run homer, Hideki Matsui added a solo blast and Alex Rodriguez also drove in a run for the Yankees, who have taken the first two games of the series and have won nine of their last 10 contests.

Brett Tomko (1-2) pitched a scoreless inning for the win. Starter Chien-Ming Wang was charged with six hits and four runs over 5 1/3 innings before leaving due to injury. An MRI after the game revealed a right shoulder strain as well as bursitis, meaning Wang may miss a month's worth of action.

"We got the win, that's the most important thing and the bullpen did an amazing job, keeping us in the game and giving us a chance to win in the last at-bat," said Posada.

Alex Rios collected two hits and drove in three runs for the Blue Jays, losers in six of their last seven. Adam Lind homered and knocked in a pair while Marco Scutaro hit safely twice and scored once in defeat.

Shawn Camp (0-4) took the loss, charged with the deciding run on two hits despite four strikeouts over 2 1/3 innings. Roy Halladay was tagged for nine hits, including three homers, and five runs in his seven-inning start.

"I felt good, made a poor pitch to Matsui, bad one to Posada, thought I got it in enough on Damon, but got in bad situations early with walks to Damon and it cost me a couple of runs," said Halladay. "I didn't feel like any one thing was missing, just at times made poor pitches."

The Yankees won two of three matchups in Toronto from May 12-14 and have won six of the eight most recent meetings between the teams.

Wwwsorasguide Baseball Betting News

<< Eskandarian enjoys dream debut as L.A. downs New England
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alecko Eskandarian scored the lone goal of the match on Saturday in his Los Angeles Galaxy debut as the club downed the New England Revolution, 1-0 at The Home Depot Center. Eskandarian was acquired on Wed

<< Angels pour it on late against Baltimore
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vladimir Guerrero capped a six-run eighth inning with a monster three-run homer, as Los Angeles overcame an early deficit to wallop Baltimore, 11-4, in the third matchup of a four-game set at Angel S

<< D-Backs use late offensive surge to beat Rockies
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Young hit a pinch-hit, three-run double in Arizona's six-run eighth inning, as the Diamondbacks rallied for an 11-7 decision over the Rockies in the middle installment of a three-game series. Stephen

<< Cunningham's brace leads FCD past New York
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Cunningham scored a pair of first-half goals to lead FC Dallas to a 2-1 victory against the New York Red Bulls at Pizza Hut Park on Saturday. Cunningham scored his second goal of the season in the

<< Dynamo extend MLS lead with win at K.C.
Kansas City, KA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Dynamo extended their lead atop Major League Soccer's overall table with a 1-0 win at the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday night. Kei Kamara scored the game's only goal in the 18th minute to h

Cellar dwellers put the finishing touches on set in Cleveland >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians will try to complete the three-game sweep over the Oakland Athletics this afternoon when the two teams close their series at Progressive Field. Gio Gonzalez will head to the mound for the A's in searc

Mariners take aim at first-ever three-game sweep at Fenway >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners hope to complete their first-ever three-game sweep in Boston this afternoon when they wrap up their set with the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Jon Lester will try to stop that from happening, though, as he

White Sox, Royals close four-game set in Kansas City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Bannister will try to get back on the winning side of things when he takes the hill this afternoon for the Kansas City Royals in the finale of a four-game stint against the Chicago White Sox at Kauffman Stadium. B

Tigers, Twins wrap up series at the Metrodome >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins will try to keep pace with the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central when the two teams collide this afternoon in the finale of a three-game set at the Metrodome. Nick Blackburn will try to return to the w

Saunders hopes for a rebound in finale with O's >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Saunders will try to rebound from a disastrous start when he takes the hill for the LA Angels of Anaheim in the finale of a four- game set against the Baltimore Orioles at Angel Stadium. The last time Saunders was on

Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

Is 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.