D'Backs vie for another win against Marlins

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07/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Diamondbacks try to make it two straight wins tonight when they host the Florida Marlins in game two of a four-game series at Chase Field.

In Thursday's opener, Kelly Johnson went 4-for-5 and drove in three runs to lead Arizona to a 10-4 rout. Gerardo Parra also delivered four hits and scored twice for the Diamondbacks, who snapped a five-game skid.

Rodrigo Lopez (5-7) gave up five hits and four runs - three earned - over seven innings to get the win in front of a franchise-record low 16,664 fans.

Anibal Sanchez (7-6) lost his second consecutive start after yielding nine hits and six runs - five earned - over four-plus innings.

Brett Hayes hit a two-run homer for Florida.

On the mound tonight, Arizona staff ace Dan Haren aims for his first win since June 12. The 29-year-old Californian was 7-4 on the season after a 7-2 defeat of St. Louis, but has since gone 0-2 with a pair of no-decisions in four outings.

He allowed just one run on six hits in seven innings on July 4 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the Diamondbacks lost the game, 3-1.

Haren is 1-2 in four career starts against Florida with a 2.86 earned run average in 28 1/3 innings.

For the Marlins, fellow Californian Ricky Nolasco looks to push his personal win streak to four games.

The 27-year-old right-hander has beaten Baltimore, the New York Mets and Atlanta in his last three starts, combining to surrender 18 hits and nine runs in 21 innings.

He's pitched seven innings in each of the three wins, after lasting seven innings just four times in his initial 14 outings in 2010.

Nolasco is 4-1 in five lifetime starts against Arizona with a 3.53 ERA.

He is 5-2 this season in nine road starts.

These two clubs split a quick two-game set in Florida on May 17-18 and Arizona has won seven of the last 11 meetings overall. The Marlins and Diamondbacks split four games at Chase Field last year.

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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.