Oswalt to make debut as red-hot Phils head to Washington
Baseball Betting Lines
07/30/2010 -
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the second straight season, the Philadelphia Phillies
have acquired one of the top available pitchers prior to the non-waiver trade
deadline. The timing couldn't be better, as the club has used a season-high
winning streak to make up ground in the National League East.
The second-place Phillies hope newly-acquired Roy Oswalt can pitch them to a
ninth straight victory this evening in the opener of a three-game series with
the hosting Washington Nationals.
Philadelphia was a bigger winner at last year's deadline, getting Cliff Lee
from the Cleveland Indians for a handful of prospects. Lee went 7-4 with a
3.39 earned run average in 12 regular-season starts with the Phillies, helping
them reach the World Series for a second straight season.
Lee was traded this offseason to Seattle for prospects after the Phils nabbed
Roy Halladay from Toronto in a deal. But with Jaime Moyer injured, Joe Blanton
struggling and little depth in the rotation this year, the Phillies sent
pitcher J.A. Happ and two prospects to the Houston Astros on Thursday for
Oswalt, who will team with Halladay and Cole Hamels at the top of
Philadelphia's rotation.
"It's exciting for sure," Oswalt told MLB.com. "I think it works out for both
of us. Houston's getting good prospects and another pitcher, and I'm getting
to go to a great team. I'm happy for both sides. From the very beginning, I
said I wouldn't accept it unless it worked out for both of us, and I think it
worked out."
The right-handed Oswalt is just 6-12 on the season despite a 3.42 ERA, but was
averaging just 2.26 runs of support in his 20 starts, Houston's offense was
limited to two runs or less in 12 of those outings and scored just four runs
over Oswalt's last six starts with the Astros.
Oswalt, who had to waive a no-trade clause to make the deal happen, leaves
Houston having gone 143-82 with a 3.24 ERA in 303 games (291 starts) over
nine-plus seasons, leaving him one victory shy of tying Joe Niekro for most
wins in franchise history.
The 32-year-old is 3-2 with a 3.52 ERA lifetime versus the Nats, who pounded
him for four runs on four hits and three walks in a loss on May 31. Oswalt's
frustration got the better of him that night, and he was ejected after just 2
1/3 innings of work for his shortest outing of the season.
Oswalt joins a Phillies club that has won eight in a row to get within 2 1/2
games of the first-place Braves. Philadelphia's bullpen blew a ninth-inning
lead in Thursday's finale of a three-game series with Arizona, but Wilson
Valdez hit the Phils to victory with a game-winning RBI single in the 11th
inning of a 3-2 triumph.
Philadelphia hits the road for six straight after winning all seven games of
its homestand. It marked its first perfect homestand of at least six games
since Aug. 6-12, 1991.
The Nationals gave the Phillies some help on Thursday when they knocked off
the Braves, 5-3, to take two of three in the series and win for the fourth
time in 12 games. Their reward is a matchup with Oswalt.
"[Oswalt's] a power pitcher. A lot of us have faced him plenty," Nationals
third baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. "It's not like a new guy we've ever faced
before, but he's been one of the better pitchers in the league the last 10
years and he comes right at you."
Ian Desmond and Adam Dunn, who could see himself traded prior to Saturday's
deadline, both homered for Washington and Scott Olsen got the win after
allowing three runs -- two earned -- over six innings in his return from the
disabled list.
Matt Capps notched his 26th save for Washington, but was then traded after the
game to the Twins. In return, the Nationals received Wilson Ramos, one of the
top catching prospects in baseball, and minor league pitcher Joe Testa.
Craig Stammen draws the unfortunate task of opposing Oswalt in his Phillies
debut. The right-hander has struggled against Philadelphia in two career
starts -- both this year -- allowing 11 runs in 6 1/3 total innings without a
decision. The bulk of that damage came on April 14, when he gave up seven runs
over just 1 1/3 frames.
Stammen is 2-4 with a 5.50 ERA this year and winless in four starts since a
victory on June 29. The 26-year-old has gone 0-2 with a 6.86 ERA in that time
and got a no-decision versus Milwaukee on Friday after allowing three runs on
five hits over five innings.
The Phillies have won four of six over Washington this year, taking two of
three at Nationals Park from April 5-8. Philadelphia is 22-5 over its last 27
meetings versus Washington and won seven of nine in D.C. last year.
<< Flames ink White
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Calgary Flames signed defenseman Ian White
to a one-year contract on Friday.
White was part of the blockbuster deal at last season's trade deadline that
saw blueliner Dion Phaneuf heading from Calgar
<< 2010 FBS Positional Analysis: Linebackers
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - They are free to roam the middle of the
field, looking to lay the lumber on the ball-carriers and receivers that dare
to enter their domain. The job of the linebacker is to be instinctual, to be in
the right
<< Division leaders square off in Cincinnati
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of National League divisional front-runners get
together for a potential playoff preview tonight when the Central-leading
Cincinnati Reds host the East-leading Atlanta Braves in the first of three at
Great American Ba
<< Twins return home to face Mariners
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off a wildly successful road trip, the surging
Minnesota Twins return to Target Field this evening to play the first of three
consecutive matchups with the Seattle Mariners.
The Twins are back home after going 6-1 on
<< Royals continue set with Orioles in Kansas City
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles hope a flurry of changes can help
lead to more results like the team produced on Thursday.
The revamped club will set its sights on a second straight victory over the
Kansas City Royals, who'll be out
Astros to unveil Happ in opener with Brewers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nobody expects new Houston Astros starter J.A. Happ to
replace the traded Roy Oswalt, yet that is what the young left-hander must do
tonight.
One day after getting dealt to the Astros in a deal that sent Oswalt to the
Phi
Cards hope for boost from Carpenter in battle with Bucs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis' bats have failed the Cardinals on more than one
occasion over the club's current funk. With Chris Carpenter set to take the
hill tonight versus Pittsburgh, those struggles might be forgiven tonight.
Carpenter wi
Angels try to gain some ground on Rangers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After struggling badly during one of their most
challenging stretches of the season, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim now
find themselves faced with what could be a make-or-break three-game series
with the Texas Rangers that
Cubs head to Colorado to take on slumping Rox >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Canadian-born lefty Jeff Francis can get the Colorado
Rockies started on a long-awaited win streak tonight, when the team hosts the
Chicago Cubs to open a three-game weekend series at Coors Field.
The Rockies sit on the ve
Ravens CB Foxworth tears ACL, out for the season >>
Westminster, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baltimore Ravens cornerback Dominique
Foxworth will apparently miss the upcoming season after tearing his anterior
cruciate ligament.
Foxworth limped off the field during orientation practice on Th
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.
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Bonds nearly hits HR 751, SF wins
4 and drove in
a pair of runs, and Barry Bonds nearly hit homer No. 751 as San Francisco beat
1, in the middle contest of three at AT&T Park.
6) allowed five hits and one run over 6 2/3 innings, fanning
eight and walking three.
game slide.
Bonds, who came within five homers of Hank Aaron's record on Friday, went
1 with three walks, an RBI double and scored twice. The double ...
read more
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