05/08/2008 - Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Markakis homered and drove in three runs, as Baltimore downed Kansas City, 4-1, at Kauffman Stadium.
Baltimore snapped a five-game skid on its 10-game road trip behind the right arm of Daniel Cabrera (3-1), who tossed a complete game while scattering one run on three hits with seven strikeouts and one walk.
Luke Hochevar (2-2) gave up four runs on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Tony Pena, Jr. drove in the only run for the Royals, who have dropped three of their last four games.
Markakis walked with two outs in the first and moved to third on Aubrey Huff's single. A wild pitch plated Markakis for the 1-0 edge.
Freddie Bynum singled to begin the third, and Melvin Mora walked with one out. Markakis followed with a three-run shot to dead center field for the 4-0 advantage.
Kansas City scratched out a two-out run in the home half of the fifth. Russ Gload singled, moved to second on a wild pitch and came around to score on Pena's base hit.
Cabrera tamed the Kansas City bats from there. He improved to 4-0 in seven starts against the Royals and won his third straight outing at Kauffman Stadium.
Game Notes
Baltimore re-instated infielder/outfielder Bynum from the 15-day disabled list on Thursday and optioned infielder Eider Torres to Triple-A Norfolk...The Royals committed two errors -- one from Hochevar and the other by Alex Gordon...The normally erratic Cabrera threw 75 of his 115 pitches for strikes...Attendance 11,781.
<< Chicago continues to roll against D.C. United
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Justin Mapp and Cuauhtemoc Blanco scored
and Jon Busch posted his fourth shutout as the Chicago Fire beat D.C. United,
2-0, in Major League Soccer on Thursday night.
Chicago improved to 3-0-1 on the roa
<< Gainey, two others share lead in Arkansas
Fort Smith, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tommy Gainey posted a six-under 64 Thursday
to grab a share of the lead after the opening round of the Fort Smith Classic.
Gainey was joined atop the leaderboard by Matt Weibring and Kris Cox.
There is a
<< Thursday's NBA Playoff Capsules
BOSTON (AP) -Paul Pierce scored 19 points, Kevin Garnett added 13 with 12 rebounds, and Ray Allen broke out of a seven-quarter scoring drought with 16 points to help Boston beat Cleveland 89-73 on Thursday night.The Celtics took a 2-0 lead in the Ea
<< Barcelona fires coach Rijkaard
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barcelona fired coach Frank Rijkaard on
Thursday, less than three years after he guided the club to the UEFA Champions
League title.
Rijkaard will officially step down on June 30. He will be replaced by
Youkilis, Beckett lead Boston past Detroit >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run homer, as Boston
topped Detroit, 5-1, in the finale of a four-game series at Comerica Park.
Jason Varitek also drove in two for the Red Sox, who won three of four in the
set and
USA edges Germany at Worlds >>
Halifax, Nova Scotia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zach Parise's third-period power-play
goal proved to be the game-winner, as Team USA held on to defeat Germany, 6-4,
in a Group F Qualifying Round game at the 2008 World Hockey Championship.
Parise f
Rangers activate Gabbard from DL >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers activated Kason Gabbard
from the 15-day disabled list on Thursday, allowing the left-hander to start
against the Seattle Mariners.
Gabbard was placed on the disabled list on April 24 w
Treanor, Cantu power Fish past Brewers >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Treanor went 2-for-3 with a three-run homer,
and Jorge Cantu finished with a two-run shot, as the Florida Marlins beat
Milwaukee, 7-2, to sweep a three-game series with the Brewers.
Luis Gonzalez went 3
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.
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.