09/05/2008 - Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brett Myers dominated on the hill, hurling eight shutout innings to lift the Phillies to a 3-0 win over the New York Mets, tightening the gap in the NL East in the start of the final series this season between the division rivals.
Myers (9-10) allowed three hits and walked a pair while matching a season-high with 10 strikeouts in winning his fourth straight start. The righty is 6-1 in nine starts since returning from a minor-league stint July 23. Greg Dobbs hit a clutch two-run homer in the seventh and Chase Utley plated a run in the first with a groundout.
The Mets entered the series on a four-game winning streak but Philadelphia cut New York's lead in the division to two games with the win after dropping two of three in a series with the Nationals.
At this time last year, the Mets were five games up in the division, an edge that would swell to seven with 17 tests to go in the campaign. However, New York then dropped three straight to the Phillies from September 14-16 and ended the season losers in 12 of their last 17 games to lose the division to Philadelphia on the final day of the season.
Mike Pelfrey (13-9) pitched admirably in defeat with seven strong innings, giving up three runs -- two earned -- on four hits and a pair of walks while striking out four. Daniel Murphy doubled twice in the loss for New York.
Philadelphia took an early lead with a run in the first. Shane Victorino slapped a single through the right side, stole second and moved to third when catcher Brian Schneider bounced the throw at second into center field. Utley brought Victorino home on a groundout to first.
Myers and Pelfrey traded scoreless frames over the next five innings with Myers setting down 11 in a row until a Murphy double in the sixth. He was stranded however, as David Wright popped out to second and Carlos Delgado flied to center, ending the inning.
The Phils extended their lead with two-out, two-run homer just over the right field wall from Dobbs. Ryan Howard started the seventh inning with a walk before Pelfrey recorded two quick outs. Dobbs then connected on a 2-2 fastball and the ball just cleared the outstretched glove of Ryan Church, who was camped under the wall.
Myers needed just 11 pitches to dispatch of the Mets in the seventh and set them down in order again in the eighth before Brad Lidge came on for the ninth.
Lidge got Murphy to fly out to center, but Wright hit a ground-rule double to center and Delgado followed with a single. Carlos Beltran, however, flied out to left and Church lined to center for the final out, giving Lidge his 34th save in as many opportunities this season.
Game Notes
The Mets lead the season series 10-6, but the Phillies enjoy a 5-2 mark as the visitor going into their last ever visit to Shea Stadium...The Mets are coming off a 6-2 road trip and began an eight-game homestand...The Phils are now 4-4 on their 10-game road trip...Saturday's scheduled starters are Jamie Moyer (12-7) for Philadelphia and Pedro Martinez (5-3) for New York...The Phillies reached a contract agreement with infielder Tadahito Iguchi Friday. Iguchi is expected to join the team before Saturday's scheduled game. It will be Iguchi's second stint in Philadelphia as the club acquired him from the White Sox in the 2007 season to fill in for an injured Utley...Major League Baseball suspended Philadelphia minor league pitchers Ricciard Rodriguez and Luis Castillo after both tested positive for performance-enhancing substances during the Venezuela Summer League...Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee was ejected by home plate umpire Paul Emmel for arguing balls and strikes in the sixth.
<< Nats' Hill has surgery; Belliard out with groin strain
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Nationals pitcher Shawn Hill
underwent season-ending surgery on his right elbow Friday.
Dr. James Andrews performed the surgery on Friday and removed spurs in the
posterior elbow.
Hill
<< Cards' Isringhausen to undergo elbow surgery
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jason
Isringhausen, currently on the 15-day disabled list with a right elbow strain,
will undergo season-ending surgery next week.
The procedure is slated for September
<< Rangers OF Byrd injures thumb
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers outfielder Marlon Byrd left
Friday's game with the Boston Red Sox after spraining his left thumb.
The injury occurred while Byrd tried to make a diving catch on Dustin
Pedroia's line drive in
<< Rangers' Kinsler to have season-ending surgery
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler
will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a sports hernia.
Kinsler, out since August 18 with the injury, decided to forego an attempt to
come back this season
Bruce's slam highlights Reds rout of Cubbies >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jay Bruce hit a grand slam and Joey Votto
added a two-run homer, as the Cincinnati Reds pounded the Chicago Cubs, 10-2,
in the opener of a three-game set at Great American Ball Park.
Votto finished 2-fo
Braves notch back-to-back wins over Nats >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie Brandon Jones highlighted a seven-run
third inning with a three-run double, carrying Atlanta to a 10-5 win over the
Washington Nationals.
Kelly Johnson had three hits, including a pair of doubles,
A's crush O's >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Braden and the Oakland bullpen held
down the Baltimore offense, while the Athletics finally took advantage of
suspect pitching in an 11-2 rout over the Orioles in a rain-soaked opener of a
three-g
Lowell, Beckett highlight BoSox rout of Rangers >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Lowell finished 3-for-5 with four runs
batted in, and Josh Beckett threw five shutout innings, as the Boston Red Sox
beat Texas, 8-1, in the first of three games with the Rangers.
Beckett (12-9) and
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Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."
When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules.
The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.
The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.
“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”
The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.
“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”
The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.
“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”
Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.
“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."
So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?
“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.
Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.
Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.
Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.
“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.
Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.
The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.
“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.
Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.
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