Rodriguez leads Houston in blanking of Reds
Baseball Betting Lines
07/25/2010 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wandy Rodriguez spun seven innings of one-hit ball and received home run support from Hunter Pence and Chris Johnson, as the Astros shut down Cincinnati, 4-0, to salvage the last of a three-game set.
Rodriguez (8-11) walked two, struck out seven and did not allow a runner past first base in leading Houston to its' first win in six tries against the Reds at Minute Maid Park this season.
Mike Leake (7-2) suffered the loss after yielding all four runs on seven hits while walking three and fanning three over 6 1/3 innings for the Reds, who lead the season series, 7-2.
Pence led off the home second with a home run to left field to get the scoring started.
The Astros put runners at first and second with nobody out in the fourth but could not score after Johnson bounced into a 5-3 double play and Jonny Gomes made a diving catch on a Jason Castro fly ball to shallow left.
Johnson hit his longball with one out in the seventh to make it a 2-0 game. Castro then singled and moved to third base on a pinch-hit double by Jason Michaels before Michael Bourn doubled to left to plate both runners and chase Leake from the game.
Meanwhile, Rodriguez allowed only a walk to the high-powered Reds offense during the second through fourth innings and retired the last nine batters he faced after a leadoff walk to Miguel Cairo in the fifth.
Brandon Lyon and Matt Lindstrom each allowed one hit in a scoreless frame each to finish off the blanking.
Game Notes
Cincinnati third baseman Scott Rolen, who missed his ninth straight game on Sunday, is expected to return during the team's next series in Milwaukee that begins on Monday...The Reds were shutout for a 12th time this season...Joey Votto had two of the Reds hits and Ryan Hanigan had the other...Rodriguez evened his career record against the Reds at 7-7 in 18 starts...Johnson extended his hitting streak to a career-high nine games...Bourn finished with three of Houston's nine hits...Patrick Patterson, taken by the Houston Rockets with the 14th pick in the NBA Draft last month, threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game.
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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.
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