Cardinals, Reds close out heated set in Cincy

Baseball Betting Lines

08/11/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cardinals and Reds have been fighting in the standings all season long. Yesterday it escalated onto the field.

Tied atop the National League Central, St. Louis and Cincinnati wrap up a three-game set this afternoon less than 24 hours after a wild benches-clearing brawl.

The Cardinals have taken the first two games of this set to move into a virtual tie with the Reds, with St. Louis a few percentage points ahead of Cincinnati.

Prior to Monday's victory, Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips had some unflattering words for the Cardinals in which he said he hated the club and called them complainers. During the first inning of Tuesday's 8-4 Cardinals win, Phillips got into it with St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina after he tapped both Molina and the home plate umpire on the shin with his bat.

Molina, though, kicked Phillips' bat away before stepping on home plate and engaged in a heated argument with his opponent. Both benches emptied and the players, as well as St. Louis manager Tony La Russa and Cincinnati skipper Dusty Baker, started jawing.

"I was ready to start the game. He touched me," Molina said. "The comment he made [Monday] that we have nothing over here ... why did you touch me then? You are not my friend. You don't have to touch me. If we are not here for you, then you are not my friend."

The melee then moved towards the backstop and the Reds' Scott Rolen, a former Cardinal, went at it with ex-teammate Chris Carpenter, while Cincinnati starter Johnny Cueto found himself pinned against the backstop and began throwing wild kicks. One appeared to connect with St. Louis' Jason LaRue, who had a gash above his left eye and apparently suffered a slight concussion.

Both managers were ejected, but no players.

"Afterwards, I just turned around and I've got Cueto kicking me in the back with his spikes," Carpenter said. "It's super unprofessional. I don't know where he learned how to fight."

The Cardinals were already up 1-0 at the time of the incident and Molina homered in the second to double the advantage. Though the Reds scored twice in the third to tie the game, getting one of those runs on a Phillips ground out, St. Louis went ahead for good with a three-run sixth inning.

Matt Holliday ended with four hits and three RBI and Molina drove in a pair of runs for the Cardinals, who have won four of five overall and nine of 14 over the Reds so far this year, taking five of eight in Cincinnati.

These two clubs wrap up their season series from Sept. 3-5.

Cueto suffered the loss, his first since June 18, after giving up five runs -- four earned -- over 5 1/3 innings and Drew Stubbs drove in two runs for the Reds, who lost their first series since the All-Star break (6-1-1) and are in danger of being swept in three games by the Cardinals at home for the first time since May 2-4, 2005.

"Regardless of anything that happened it's all about wins and losses," Phillips said. "We're in the race and that's what we need to do, we need to win."

The Reds figure to have their hands full today with Adam Wainwright slated to take the mound for the Cardinals. The right-hander has won two straight starts and is pitching to a 1.28 earned run average over his last eight outings, going 6-1 while allowing one run or less in seven of those games.

Wainwright is coming off a two-hit, three-walk shutout of the Marlins on Friday, his second of the season and eighth of his career. He is 16-6 on the season with a 2.07 ERA, but just 5-6 with a 3.00 ERA in 12 road starts.

The 28-year-old is 2-3 with a 4.68 ERA in his career versus the Reds. He has faced them twice this year, both times in Cincinnati, and was tagged for four runs over six innings in a loss the last time they met on May 15.

The Reds counter with Bronson Arroyo, who has also won consecutive starts and is 5-2 over his last seven outings.

Arroyo hasn't allowed an earned run over his last two outings, yielding a pair of unearned runs on a win over Atlanta on July 31 before hurling seven shutout innings of five-run ball versus the Cubs on Friday.

The 33-year-old righty is 12-6 on the year with a 3.83 ERA and 7-9 with a 4.49 ERA lifetime against the Cardinals. He has split two decisions versus them this year in three starts, including a two-run complete game-victory at home on May 16.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

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.

Super Bowl 2009 Betting

Super Bowl 2009 Betting propositions

Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.

Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.

Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.

If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.

Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.

By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.

In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.

So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.

While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.

There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.

In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:

SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.

XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.

XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.

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