Howard and Phils double up Rockies

Baseball Betting Lines

04/11/2009 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Howard had a pair of hits and three runs batted in, as the Phillies used some timely hitting and strong pitching to defeat the Colorado Rockies, 8-4, at Coors Field.

Seven of Philadelphia's runs came with two outs, as the Phillies won for the second time in three games. Brett Myers (1-1) became the first starter on the team to earn a win and improved to 7-0 lifetime against the Rockies, as he threw seven strong innings, allowing four runs on four hits and a walk, with six strikeouts.

Shane Victorino went 3-for-5 and scored twice, while Jayson Werth added a two- RBI triple. Chase Utley had two hits and scored twice, while Pedro Feliz also added three hits.

The Rockies managed only four hits in the game, with three being home runs from Clint Barmes, Troy Tulowitzki and Garrett Atkins, respectively. Brad Hawpe doubled to account for the other base hit, while Jorge De La Rosa (0-1) gave up five runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three in 4 2/3 innings.

Colorado had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Back-to-back two-out singles by Utley and Howard in the fifth put runners on the corners for Werth and knocked De La Rosa out of the game. Ryan Speier came in to face Werth, who tripled down the right field line to score both runners and put the Phillies ahead, 5-3.

Barmes immediately cut the Rockies' deficit in half, leading off the home fifth with a homer off Myers.

In the sixth, against Colorado reliever Jason Hammel, Feliz singled to lead off and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Myers. Jimmy Rollins and Victorino each worked two-out walks to load the bases for Utley, who grounded out to Hammel to end the threat.

Raul Ibanez blasted a two-out solo homer in the seventh to make it 6-4 in favor of the visitors. Utley blooped a two-out RBI single in the eighth to score Victorino, who had doubled.

Ibanez led the ninth off against Huston Street with a double and scored on an RBI single from Feliz to account for the final margin.

Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge contributed one perfect inning of relief apiece to close out the game.

Colorado jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second, as Hawpe hit a one-out double and Tulowitzki drilled a two-run homer to center.

Rollins and Victorino both hit two-out singles in the third, and Utley worked a five-pitch walk to load the bases. Howard came up and promptly drilled the first pitch to the wall in the left-center field gap, scoring all three runs.

Atkins hit a one-out homer in the fourth, his second in two games, to tie the game at 3-3.

Game Notes

Clay Condrey is the other Phillies pitcher who has won a game this season...Philadelphia has won seven of eight against the Rockies...The Phillies placed catcher Carlos Ruiz on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right oblique muscle and recalled catcher Lou Marson from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to fill the roster spot...Colorado left just one runner on base, while the Phillies stranded 12...Ibanez finished 2-for-5 with a homer, a double and two runs scored.

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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.


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.