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Astros visit Pirates in battle of Central doormatsBaseball Betting Lines07/16/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of the have-nots in the National League's Central Division get together tonight when the fifth-place Houston Astros visit the sixth-place Pittsburgh Pirates in the opener of a three-game weekend series at PNC Park. The Astros and Pirates, who finished fifth and sixth, respectively, last season, are already all but out of contention in the division at the season's unofficial midway point. Houston trails the first-place Cincinnati Reds by 12 1/2 games, while the Pirates are 18 games back and in possession of the worst record in the NL at 30-58. Hard-throwing right-hander Brett Myers takes the mound for the Astros with the hope of repeating a strong outing in his last start before the All-Star break, when he allowed just four hits and a run in eight innings of a 4-1 win over St. Louis last Saturday. The win leveled Myers at 6-6 in his initial year with Houston after he'd spent his entire professional career with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Jacksonville, Fla. native is 4-4 lifetime against the Pirates, including a 10-3 win in an April 25 start in Texas. In that game, Myers allowed 11 hits and two runs in six innings en route to his first win of 2010. Pittsburgh counters with 27-year-old lefty Zach Duke, who makes his first appearance since a stint on the 15-day disabled list with a strained elbow. The former 20th-round draft pick (2001) had lost four straight starts before the injury, including a 7-2 interleague defeat against the Chicago White Sox on June 16 in Pittsburgh. In that game Duke was touched for eight hits and five runs, and in the four losses he allowed 38 hits and 21 runs in a combined 22 innings. The Clifton, Texas native is 2-4 lifetime against the Astros with a 3.25 earned run average in 61 innings. Pittsburgh entered the break on a six-game skid and lost a 6-5 heartbreaker to Milwaukee on Sunday, with the Brewers' Corey Hart clubbing a game-winning two- run homer in the ninth inning. After Andrew McCutchen's sacrifice fly scored Ronny Cedeno to give Pittsburgh a 5-4 lead in the top of the ninth, Milwaukee's Jim Edmonds led off the bottom half with a ground-rule double off Pirates closer Octavio Dotel (2-2). Two batters later, Hart crushed a 1-0 slider over the wall in left for his 21st home run of the season, finishing off a sweep that featured three one-run victories for the hosts. Lastings Milledge went 2-for-3 with a solo homer for Pittsburgh (30-58), while Dotel suffered his second blown save of the series and fifth of the season. Houston was also last in action on Sunday, when the team dropped a 4-2 decision to St. Louis in the rubber match of a three-game series. Matt Holliday had a three-run homer for the Cardinals, one of four hits given up by Houston's Wandy Rodriguez (6-11), who fanned six through six innings. The Astros have dominated the season series between these teams, winning all six meetings with Pittsburgh thus far in 2010. This will be Houston's first trip to the Steel City, where the club won four of six from the Pirates last year, of the season.
<< Yankees to host Rays in emotional series opener
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees will take the field this evening with heavy hearts as they start the second half of their season with the first of a three-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium. Tonight's contest will
<< Cubs hope to build off big win in second test with Phils
<< Padres aim to extend division lead in matchup vs. last-place D-Backs
<< Cardinals turn to Garcia versus Dodgers
<< First-place Braves resume series with Brewers
Mariners turn to Hernandez in hopes of evening set with Angels >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners may have traded one ace, but they still have one of the top young pitchers in Felix Hernandez. Hernandez will look to stop his club's six-game series losing streak to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
White Sox aim for 10th straight win in clash with Twins >>
Orioles, Jays open set at Camden Yards >>
Red Sox send rookie hurler to mound vs. Texas >>
Strasburg leads Nats into south Florida >>
SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook BettingNFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal. A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon." It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed. The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha. So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games." Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico. To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs. |
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