Longoria, Rays edge O's to take series

Baseball Betting Lines

07/21/2010 - Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Evan Longoria homered, doubled and drove in the game-winning run with a walk, as the Tampa Bay Rays held on for 5-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles in the rubber match of a three-game set at Camden Yards.

Willy Aybar and Reid Brignac each chipped in with two hits and an RBI for Tampa Bay, which has won five of its last eight.

James Shields (8-9) allowed four runs on eight hits with one walk and struck out a batter in 6 1/3 innings to earn the victory. Rafael Soriano locked the game down with a perfect ninth inning to register his 24th save of the season.

Ty Wigginton hit a two-run homer and doubled for the Orioles, who have dropped five of six.

Brad Bergesen (3-8) was touched for nine hits and five runs over 5 1/3 frames. The right-hander struck out seven and walked three. He has now taken a loss in four straight outings and dropped six consecutive decisions since a May 12 victory over Seattle.

With Tampa Bay clinging to a 5-4 lead in the eighth, Joaquin Benoit was summoned from the Rays' bullpen and allowed Wigginton to reach with a one-out double. Pinch-runner Scott Moore replaced Wigginton and was thrown out at third on a ground ball off the bat of Adam Jones. Felix Pie struck out to end the threat.

Soriano came in for the bottom of the ninth and retired the side in order to secure the victory.

Longoria's two-out solo homer to left in the first inning gave the Rays the early lead.

Tampa Bay then tacked on two more in the second. With runners on first and third and one out, Brignac laced a single to center that brought in Matt Joyce, who started the inning with a double. After Kelly Shoppach flied out to deep left, Ben Zobrist chased in another with a double for a 3-0 game.

Longoria got the third inning started with a double and scored three batters later as Aybar roped an RBI two-bagger to right.

Baltimore scored three in the fourth to draw to within one. Luke Scott reached with a one-out single and Wigginton followed with a two-run shot to left- center. Jones then singled and scored on Jake Fox's double to make it 4-3.

The O's came back to even the game in the fifth on Scott's RBI groundout, but the Rays went back in front in the sixth. Bergesen loaded the bases on a single and a pair of walks with one out and was lifted in favor of Jason Berken, who retired Jason Bartlett on a force out at home. Berken, though, walked Longoria to force in the go-ahead run. Mark Hendrickson replaced Berken and needed only one pitch to set down Carlos Pena.

Shields worked a scoreless sixth and gave up a one-out single to Tejada in the seventh, which ended his outing. Randy Choate came on and preserved the slim lead by getting Nick Markakis to ground into a tailor-made 4-6-3 double play.

Game Notes

Prior to the game, the Orioles reinstated reliever Mike Gonzalez from the 60- day disabled list and transferred pitcher Jim Johnson (right elbow inflammation) from the 15-day to the 60-day DL. In addition, Baltimore recalled pitcher Troy Patton from Triple-A Norfolk and optioned infielder Josh Bell to Norfolk...Rays outfielder Carl Crawford (groin) missed the game and is day-to-day.

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Sportsbooks to bet on football

Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.

He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.

"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.

He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.

Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.

Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.

Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.

Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.

With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.

Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).

And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)

The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.

While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.

Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.

One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.

Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.

What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.

That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.

MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.

"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.

"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."

So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.

In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.

MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.

The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.

Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.

MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.

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