07/05/2009 - San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Loney went 2-for-6 and smacked a solo home run in the top of the 13th to lift the Los Angeles Dodgers past the San Diego Padres, 7-6, in the rubber match of a three-game series at Petco Park.
Edward Mujica (2-4), who took over on the hill in the top of the 13th for San Diego, quickly offered up the eventual game-winning homer to Loney, who drove a 2-0 fastball just over the wall in right field.
Jeff Weaver (5-2) tossed a scoreless 11th, 12th, and 13th to collect the win for the Dodgers, who are 4-2 in their last six games. Chad Billingsley allowed three runs on four hits in eight-plus frames, but didn't factor into the decision. Billingsley also hit his first career MLB home run and doubled.
Casey Blake belted a three-run homer and Andre Ethier hit a solo homer for Los Angeles. Juan Pierre went 4-for-7 with an RBI for the victors.
Josh Banks, who is filling in for the injured Wade LeBlanc, went 4 1/3 frames in the start, allowing six runs on nine hits with one walk for the Padres, who finished 2-5 on a seven-game homestand.
Kevin Kouzmanoff and Chase Headley each hit a solo homer for San Diego. Everth Cabrera had a two-run single, while Eliezer Alfonzo and Will Venable added an RBI apiece.
Down 6-1, the Padres rallied for five runs in the bottom of the ninth to deadlock the tilt. Headley started the frame with a homer to right off Billingsley, who was replaced by Jonathan Broxton on the hill after giving up a double to Tony Gwynn, Jr. Broxton got David Eckstein to fly out before walking Scott Hairston. Adrian Gonzalez went down swinging to record the second out.
Pinch-hitter Venable then hit an RBI single to left to cut the deficit to three. Edgar Gonzalez and Alfonzo both walked, with the latter forcing in a run. Broxton's disastrous frame continued when Cabrera stroked a two-run single to center. Alfonzo was thrown out at third on the play to send the contest into extra innings.
Heath Bell came on to pitch for the Padres in the top of the 10th and put men on the corners with two outs. Bell, though, got Ethier to line out to get out of the jam.
San Diego loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom half, but Brent Leach got Venable to fly out to end the threat.
The Dodgers used an Ethier lead-off homer to center in the second inning to take the early edge.
Blake belted a three-run homer in the third to extend Los Angeles' margin to four. Billingsley doubled and Rafael Furcal hit a bunt single to put runners on the corners. Pierre moved Furcal up a base when he grounded out. Billingsley was thrown out at home when Loney grounded into a force out. Blake then drove the ball over the wall in center.
The Dodgers plated two more runs in the top of the fifth to make it a 6-0 game. Billingsley started the frame with a homer to left. Furcal followed with a triple and crossed the plate on Pierre's single.
Billingsley, who retired 12 of the first 13 batters he faced, gave up a solo homer to Kouzmanoff in the bottom of the fifth.
Game Notes
Later Sunday, it was announced the Padres dealt Hairston to Oakland for pitchers Ryan Webb and Craig Italiano, and a player to be named later...Dodgers left fielder Manny Ramirez flied out as a pinch-hitter in the 11th...The Padres placed catcher Henry Blanco (right hamstring) on the 15-day disabled list on Sunday. The club also selected the contract of catcher Jose Lobaton from Triple-A Portland and designated pitcher Edwin Moreno for assignment...The Dodgers have won nine of 13 matchups with the Padres this season...Los Angeles will head to New York for a three-game set with the Mets, starting Tuesday. San Diego will begin a seven-game road trip with a three-game series versus the Arizona Diamondbacks, beginning Monday...Eckstein left the game in the bottom of the 12th after running to first base on a groundout...Billingsley, Broxton, and Dodgers second baseman Orlando Hudson made the NL team for the All-Star game. Bell and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez were selected from San Diego.
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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.
The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)
But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)
Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.
The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.
Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.
Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
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