Braves complete sweep of punchless Phillies

Baseball Betting Lines

06/02/2010 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Omar Infante drove in the game-winning run in the eighth as the Atlanta Braves completed a three-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies with a 2-1 win at Turner Field.

Infante, who replaced Chipper Jones in the fifth inning after Jones left with inflammation on his right ring finger, went 2-for-2 while Martin Prado added two hits and a run scored for the Braves, who have won eight straight for the first time in almost seven years.

The last time the Braves had an eight-game winning streak was a run from July 4-11, 2003. That team went on to win 101 games that season.

Derek Lowe (8-4) won his third straight start as he was charged with just one run on six hits with a walk and seven strikeouts over eight innings of work.

Jayson Werth drove in the lone run while Brian Schneider scored that run for the Phillies, who have dropped nine of their last 11 games during which the team has scored just 14 runs.

Kyle Kendrick went seven innings in the start and was charged with just one run on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Jose Contreras (2-2) was tagged with the loss.

With the score tied in the eighth, the Braves grabbed the lead with Contreras on the mound. Nate McLouth led off with a walk and moved to second on a sac bunt from pinch-hitter Melky Cabrera. After Prado struck out, Jason Heyward was issued an intentional walk. Infante followed with a bloop single to right just over the head of Chase Utley to bring home McLouth for a 2-1 lead.

Billy Wagner worked around a two-out walk to Ben Francisco in the ninth to pick up his ninth save of the season.

The Braves struck in the first inning as, with men on first and third and no outs, Jones hit into a double play that scored Prado.

Atlanta nearly took a 2-0 lead in the second as Troy Glaus hit a long fly ball to left, but Raul Ibanez leapt at the wall and got his glove on the ball to keep it from going out, limiting Glaus to a double. Eric Hinske then struck out and Yunel Escobar lined out back to the mound with Kendrick turning the double play to escape the inning.

Philly got the run back in the third on an RBI single from Werth that plated Schneider. Wilson Valdez followed with a bunt single to load the bases, but Utley hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

After giving up a leadoff single to Ryan Howard in the fourth, Lowe got Francisco to pop out and Raul Ibanez to hit into a double play. Lowe then retired the next nine batters in order.

Greg Dobbs led off the eighth with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Schneider. Pinch-hitter Ross Gload then grounded out to move Dobbs to third and Werth was issued an intentional walk, but Valdez flied out to end the inning.

Game Notes

The Braves are 12-7 in day games this season, including a perfect 9-0 at home...Atlanta now embarks on a season-high 11-game road trip, starting with a four-game set in Los Angeles on Thursday...The Braves are an MLB-best 19-6 at home this season...Despite the loss, the Phils lead the National League in road wins with 15, compared to 14 losses...The Phils fell to 9-10 in days games this season...Philly just finished a road trip with a 2-7 mark for the first time since 2006. The team returns home to face San Diego for a four-game set starting on Friday.

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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.