Rookie Bumgarner tries to pitch Giants past Nationals

Baseball Betting Lines

07/11/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants got their first-ever look at Washington Nationals rookie sensation Stephen Strasburg in Friday's opener of this three-game series between the teams. Now they'll unveil their own top pitching prospect when the two clubs close out their pre All-Star break schedule this afternoon at Nationals Park.

San Francisco will send out rookie Madison Bumgarner in today's finale, with the highly-regarded 20-year-old slated to make his fourth start since being promoted from Triple-A Fresno in late June. The hard-throwing left-hander lost his first two outings following his callup, but displayed his considerable potential with an excellent eight-inning stint to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers this past Tuesday.

Bumgarner yielded just three hits and struck out five in the Giants' 6-1 triumph that night, picking up his first win in the majors in the process. The talented youngster was able to work around three walks and threw 73 of his 115 pitches for strikes.

The 10th overall selection of the 2008 draft out of a North Carolina high school, Bumgarner amassed a stellar 27-5 record with a 1.65 ERA in his first two professional seasons and entered this year ranked 14th on Baseball America's top 100 prospects list.

Strasburg led the Nationals to an 8-1 win in Friday's opener by delivering six strong innings, but the San Francisco offense bounced back strongly last night to even the series. The Giants scored four times in the seventh inning to erase a one-run deficit and pulled away for a 10-5 triumph, with Buster Posey and Juan Uribe each knocking in three runs for the victors.

After Aaron Rowand's solo homer off Washington reliever Tyler Clippard tied the score at 5-5, Freddy Sanchez and Aubrey Huff drew back-to-back walks before Posey sent a single to right that brought home the go-ahead run. Uribe then greeted Doug Slaten with a double to center that scored both Huff and Posey and gave San Francisco an 8-5 advantage.

Posey added some insurance with a two-run homer in the eighth and finished 4- for-5 with two runs scored. The rookie catcher has racked up five homers and 12 RBI over his last six games and is batting a robust .351 since being recalled from Fresno in late May.

"Six home runs in 10 games is pretty ridiculous," Giants reliever Joe Martinez said of Posey, who's hitting .513 (19-for-37) over that 10-game stretch. "He's a really good player. Obviously, he's producing offensively and he's really good defensively too."

Starting pitcher Jonathan Sanchez added a two-run single in the second inning for San Francisco, but lasted just 3 2/3 frames and was tagged for five runs on five hits. Five Giant relievers combined to shut the Nats out the rest of the way, with Santiago Casilla (2-2) claiming the win after retiring the only two batters he faced in the bottom of the sixth.

Clippard (8-6) was charged with four runs allowed while recording just one out in the seventh. Craig Stammen worked the first 5 1/3 innings for Washington and permitted four runs on six hits.

"Tyler is just struggling, I don't know what else to say," said Nationals manager Jim Riggleman. "He's had so much success getting hitters to swing at his fastball that's up around letter-high. Right now he's throwing it either a little bit lower in a hitting area or a little too high to get them to offer to it."

Having to face a suddenly-potent Giants lineup could be the problem as well. In winning five of their past six contests, San Francisco has put up six runs or more in all of those victories and amassed 36 runs in a four-game road sweep of Milwaukee just prior to this series.

The Giants will be taking their swings today off graybeard Livan Hernandez, who's put together a fine season as the veteran anchor of a young Washington pitching staff. The 35-year-old has compiled a 6-4 record with a very solid 3.12 ERA over 17 first-half starts and has been particularly stingy at home, where he's 4-1 with a 2.10 ERA in 10 Nationals Park assignments.

Hernandez enters this afternoon's tilt having worked at least six innings in eight consecutive starts and is coming off Tuesday's no-decision against San Diego in which he was reached for four runs over seven frames. Five days earlier, the right-hander held the New York Mets to one run in seven innings but did not factor in the final outcome of Washington's 2-1 win.

The Cuba native, who spent 3 1/2 seasons with the Giants from 1999-2002 and was a member of San Francisco's 2002 NL pennant-winning team, owns just a 4-7 record with a 4.08 ERA in 18 lifetime starts against his former club. One those defeats took place at AT&T Park back on May 25, with Hernandez surrendering four runs in five innings.

The Giants won two of three games from the Nationals at AT&T Park from May 25-27 and are 14-4 against Washington since the start of the 2008 campaign. San Francisco has gone 7-2 at Nationals Park during that time period.

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Betting the NFL preseason

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.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.

Matt Kenseth And Kevin Harvick Favorites To Take NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship

(September 15)—The NASCAR season has hit the homestretch with the opening event on this year’s Chase for the Cup taking place this weekend at the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. With 10 races remaining to determine the Cup Series champion, leading online sportsbook MySportsbook.com today announced odds on all 10 Chase qualifying drivers capturing the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.

One of the largest sportsbook sites on the Internet, MySportsbook.com currently lists the top two drivers in the point standings as the early favorites to win the Nextel Cup. Entering the Chase for the Cup with a slim five-point lead in the point standings, 2003 NASCAR champ Matt Kenseth has been made a slight favorite to win his second Cup at 7/2 betting odds. 2001 Cup Rookie of the Year Kevin Harvick has betting odds listed at 5/2 and four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon is listed at 6/1 to capture the Nextel Cup this year.

Hoping to follow in the footsteps of his legendary father who won six NASCAR titles, Dale Earnhardt Jr. stands at 8/1 to breakthrough with his first Cup victory. Staying with the family theme, MySportsbook.com lists 2005 Rookie of the Year Kyle Busch at 14/1 to succeed big brother Kurt’s 2004 NASCAR title. While Kasey Kahne was the final driver to qualify for the Chase with a third place finish last week, the oddsmakers give him a fighting chance at 10/1 mainly due to several mile-and-a-half tracks remaining on the schedule. Despite going winless on the NASCAR circuit this season, Jeff Burton enters the Chase at 5/1 to capture the Cup title. Meanwhile, rookie Denny Hamlin is 4/1 to win the championship, while veteran driver Mark Martin enters the Chase for the Cup as a 15/1 long shot to win his first NASCAR title in his 24th and final season.

MySportsbook.com will offer comprehensive Nascar betting lines on every race remaining on the Nextel Cup series including driver match-ups, props and odds to win each race. For a complete list of NASCAR odds, please visit www.MySportsbook.com.

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