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07/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley has to be motivated by what staff mate Clayton Kershaw did in last night's series- opening win versus the Chicago Cubs. He'll try to give his team another dominating mound performance Friday in the second portion of this set from Chavez Ravine.
Kershaw held the Cubs to a pair of runs on seven hits and struck out 12 batters through eight innings of a 3-2 victory, LA's seventh in its last 10 games. Closer Jonathan Broxton took over in the ninth and hurled a scoreless inning for his 19th save to preserve Kershaw's ninth win (9-4).
"Clayton had a great start tonight, he's very special," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said after taking the first test of a four-game series. "The most important thing he brings to the table is he can throw more than one pitch for a strike."
Now the pitching table is set for Billingsley, who is 0-2 with a 4.83 earned run average in his last five starts. The right-hander hasn't recorded a decision in consecutive outings and last won on May 26 against tonight's opponent at Wrigley Field. He allowed three runs -- two earned -- and 10 hits over 5 1/3 innings in his team's 8-5 victory that day.
Billingsley pitched well enough for a win his last time out in a 3-1 win at Arizona on Sunday, as he put on his own fireworks show with six innings of one-run ball and eight strikeouts. He remained at 6-4 in 15 starts this season to go along with a 4.06 ERA, and will try to even his home mark tonight. In seven starts at Dodger Stadium, Billingsley is 2-3 with a 5.48 ERA.
The former first-round pick is 2-3 in seven career games (five starts) against the Cubs.
The Dodgers will try to give tonight's starting pitcher some support and were able to hold on yesterday with just three runs. One day after having his 10- game hitting streak come to an end, Rafael Furcal went 3-for-3 with a clutch two-run homer and a pair of runs scored, while James Loney had two hits and drove in the other run for Los Angeles, which is tied with Colorado at three games behind San Diego for the NL West lead.
Furcal has 15 runs batted in and nine multi-hit games in his last 12 contests.
Chicago was coming off a three-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks until it settled in Hollywood. Even though Cubs starter Randy Wells gave up all three runs, he still pitched well in seven innings of work. He fanned seven batters and issued just one walk to fall to 4-7 on the season.
Wells' chance for a win ended on Furcal's two-run homer in the seventh inning.
"Furcal is a good hitter. I threw a cutter, it backed up," Wells said. "He put a pretty good swing on it. You don't want to get beat with your fourth-best pitch. That stings. I hate losing. That was pretty tough to swallow."
Alfonso Soriano hit his 15th home run of the season and Geovany Soto had the other RBI for the Cubs, losers in five of their last nine games. All-Star Marlon Byrd had three hits in defeat.
Taking the Dodger Stadium mound for Chicago tonight will be Ted Lilly, who is just 3-7 with a 3.76 ERA in 14 starts and 2-2 in his last four decisions. He previously pitched on Independence Day in a 14-3 loss versus Cincinnati and allowed nine runs on 11 hits, four of which were homers, in 6 2/3 innings.
Lilly did not record a decision versus the Dodgers on May 27, but he delivered seven shutout innings and yielded three hits with five K's in his team's 1-0 win. The left-hander is 3-1 with a 3.23 ERA in seven career matchups (six starts) with Los Angeles and 1-3 in six road outings in 2010.
Chicago won two of three meetings with the Dodgers back in late May, but Los Angeles is 9-6 in the last 15 encounters between the teams.
<< Angels visit A's in clash of slumping division foes
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of struggling AL West inhabitants get together this
evening in Oakland, as the Athletics and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim kick
off a three-game series from the Coliseum.
The Angels have dropped four straight and th
<< Twins have sights set on dethroning Tigers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins will try and gain some ground in the
American League Central this weekend, as they close the first half of their
season with a three-game set against the division-leading Detroit Tigers at
Comeric
<< Yanks to take on Mariners as Lee rumors swirl
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - As the old adage goes, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em."
In this case for the New York Yankees, it has been reported they are
interested in acquiring the services of Seattle Mariners left-hander Cliff
Lee, who is schedule
<< De La Rosa set to return for Rockies' opener with Padres
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jorge De La Rosa played an instrumental role in the
Colorado Rockies' surprising march to the playoffs last season. Tonight the
left-hander will try to move his team closer to the San Diego Padres in the
National League West
White Sox begin series with resurgent Royals >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - White Sox starter Mark Buehrle has lost just once in his
last five starts. That setback came versus the Royals and the left-hander can
get a measure of revenge tonight when Chicago opens a three-game series versus
Kansas
Decision 2010: James leaves Cleveland behind >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LeBron James made the right decision the wrong way.
I first realized James had officially lost touch with reality on Wednesday
when the ESPN press release announcing "The Decision," the hour-long vehicle
in which the NBA's
Norman withdraws from British Open Championship >>
St. Andrews, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Greg Norman has withdrawn from next
week's British Open Championship at St. Andrews.
Norman, a two-time winner of the Claret Jug, has been unable to get back into
competitive form after shoulder su
AHL extends president's contract >>
Springfield, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American Hockey League president David
Andrews has agreed to terms on a contract extension that will keep him in his
position through June, 2015.
"All of us with an interest in the American Hockey L
While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game
How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.
A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.
Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.
The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).
Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.
The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).
Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
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