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09/15/2007 - Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Greg Dobbs' pinch-hit sacrifice fly scored Jayson Werth with the go-ahead run and the Philadelphia Phillies held on to defeat the New York Mets 3-2 in 10 innings at Shea Stadium.
Werth ended 2-for-4 and Chase Utley hit a game-tying two-run homer in the sixth inning for the Phillies, who continue to have the Mets' number this season. Philadelphia swept New York in a four-game series at Citizens Bank Park to end August, and have now won five straight and 10 of the 16 games against its division rival this season.
The Phillies also cut the Mets' lead in the NL East to 5 1/2 games, and drew within one game of San Diego in the wild card race. The Padres host the Giants later Friday night.
David Wright homered and Moises Alou drove in a run, ending 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 18 games, for the Mets, who had gone 10-2 since being swept in Philadelphia.
Werth started the 10th with a single to left off New York's Aaron Heilman, who then contributed to the demise. Carlos Ruiz followed with a sacrifice bunt attempt. Heilman fielded the ball and threw it into center field allowing both runners to reach safely.
Also, earlier in the at-bat, catcher Mike DeFelice, who entered the game because Paul Lo Duca was tossed by home plate umpire Paul Emmel for arguing balls and strikes to end the ninth, dropped a foul pop by Ruiz.
Abraham Nunez followed with a successful sacrifice bunt attempt that advanced the runners 90 feet, setting the table for Dobbs, whose drive to deep center easily plated Werth.
Heilman (7-7) was hit with the loss, while Tom Gordon (3-2) got the win. Brett Myers worked the ninth for his 16th save of the season.
New York starter Tom Glavine tossed 7 2/3 strong innings. The left-hander, who last lost 14 starts ago on July 2, yielded just two runs on five hits with two walks in the no-decision.
Philadelphia starter Jamie Moyer also avoided the decision, surrendering two runs on four hits with two walks and a pair of strikeouts.
Wright got the Mets going with a solo homer in the first. Alou then singled home Luis Castillo in the fourth to extend the lead to two runs. Castillo singled to lead off the inning and later stole both second and third.
Utley tied the game with one swing of the bat in the sixth. With one on and one out and the count 3-2, Utley drove a Glavine offering into the bullpen in right field.
The Phillies wasted an opportunity in the eighth. After Nunez started the inning with a single, Moyer attempted to sacrifice him to second, but the bunt stayed in the air long enough for Wright to catch it and throw to first to double off Nunez. The double play proved costly, as Jimmy Rollins followed with a single to force Glavine from the game in favor of Pedro Feliciano, who got Utley to ground out to short to end the inning.
New York also wasted a scoring opportunity in the bottom half of the inning. With two on and two outs, Gordon's first pitch hit Wright to load the bases. However, the reliever came back to strike out Carlos Beltran to end the inning.
Game Notes
Alou's hitting streak is the longest for the Mets this season, surpassing Wright's 17-gamer that started the season...Philadelphia's Antonio Alfonseca learned before the game he was hit with a four-game suspension by the league for intentionally hitting Colorado's Todd Helton with a pitch on Thursday night...Wright has 29 HRs this season...Utley has 20 HRs.
<< Nationals' Patterson undergoes arm surgery
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington pitcher John Patterson Friday
underwent surgery to decompress the radial nerve in his right arm.
Dr. David Ruch performed the procedure in one hour at Duke Medical Center.
Patterson, who m
<< Patriots owner disappointed in embarrassing events
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft reacted
Friday to the penalties levied against his team and coach following action
taken by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Thursday.
Patriots head coach Bill Bel
<< Culpepper likely to start for Raiders
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With Oakland quarterback Josh McCown listed as
doubtful for Sunday's game at Denver, the Raiders are expected to start Daunte
Culpepper under center.
McCown sprained his right foot last Sunday versus Detroi
<< Chivas can clinch playoff spot with win in Colorado and help
Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - "Chivas is a very good team with a great
atmosphere and my goal is to get all the way to playoffs and we're proving
right now that we're the best team in Major League Soccer," CD Chivas USA
reserve
Summerhays, Johnson co-leaders at Oregon Classic >>
Junction City, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Summerhays, the first amateur to
win on the Nationwide Tour, will be chasing another victory this weekend as a
professional.
Summerhays won the Children's Hospital Invitational two months a
Cubs top Cards to extend NL Central lead >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Zambrano tossed eight strong innings
to help the Chicago Cubs down the slumping St. Louis Cardinals, 5-3, in the
opener of a four-game set at Busch Stadium.
Cliff Floyd's homer in the seventh p
Perez leads Tigers past Twins >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Timo Perez knocked in three runs to guide
the Detroit Tigers past the Minnesota Twins, 4-2, in the opener of a three-
game set at the Metrodome.
Ivan Rodriguez added an RBI while Carlos Guillen sco
Phillips pushes Reds past Brewers >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Phillips went 2-for-3 and knocked in
three runs to lead the Cincinnati Reds past the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-5, at
Miller Park.
Adam Dunn finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a two-run hom
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football wagering needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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.
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