05/11/2008 - Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics activated oft-injured pitcher Rich Harden from the 15-day disabled list Sunday, in time to start the team's series finale with the Texas Rangers.
Harden was roughed up by Texas lasting only 3 2/3 innings and giving up five runs on eight hits and four walks. He struck out five.
The 26-year-old remained at 1-0 with the no decision and his earned run average climbed from 0.82 to 3.68 with the start in three games this season.
Harden was placed on the DL for the sixth time in the last four years in early April with a strained right shoulder.
He was sidelined with a similar injury for most of the 2007 campaign, appearing in only seven games.
To make room for Harden on the roster, the A's placed outfielder Chris Denorfia on the 15-day DL, retroactive to May 7, with tightness in his lower back.
<< Brown keys Oakland's win over Rangers
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Emil Brown finished with four runs batted
in, including a three-run homer, as the Oakland Athletics avoided a weekend
sweep and clobbered the Texas Rangers, 12-6.
Daric Barton hit a two-run homer an
<< Astros bring out brooms against Dodgers
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hunter Pence went 3-for-4, drove in two
runs and scored twice as the Houston Astros fought off Hiroki Kuroda's no-hit
bid and rallied for six runs in the eighth inning and an 8-5 win over the Los
Angeles
<< Flyers D Coburn leaves after getting hit with puck
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Braydon
Coburn left in the first period of his team's playoff game against Pittsburgh
after the puck hit him in the face.
Just 1:51 into the second game of the Easte
<< Holm's first career homer propels Giants past Phillies
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Holm's first major league home
run in the bottom of the seventh inning drove in the winning run, as the San
Francisco Giants edged the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3, in the rubber match at
AT&
Ibanez homers as Mariners snap skid >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Raul Ibanez launched a monstrous go-ahead
two-run homer and the Seattle Mariners snapped a five-game losing streak with
a 6-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
Ichiro Suzuki was 3-for-4 and scored twic
Garcia pars in playoff to win Players >>
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergio Garcia parred the first
playoff hole, the famous island green at 17, to defeat Paul Goydos Sunday and
win The Players Championship.
The win was Garcia's seventh on the PGA Tour, but
Sunday's NBA Playoff Boxes >>
L.A. LAKERS (115)Radmanovic 1-6 0-0 2, Odom 10-18 5-10 26, Gasol 11-16 1-2 23, Fisher 5-8 1-1 15, Bryant 13-33 6-10 33, Farmar 0-2 0-0 0, Walton 2-6 1-2 5, Turiaf 0-2 0-0 0, Vujacic 4-6 0-0 11, Mbenga 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 46-97 14-25 115.UTAH (123)Kiri
NBA Playoff Capsules >>
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -Andrei Kirilenko blocked Kobe Bryant twice in overtime and converted a three-point play with 35 seconds remaining as the Utah Jazz beat the Los Angeles Lakers 123-115 on Sunday, tying the Western Conference semifinals at 2-2.The
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.
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