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06/15/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While Rays young gun David Price targets his 10th win of the season, Atlanta starter Kenshin Kawakami has yet to taste victory in 2010.
Both pitchers will collide Tuesday night at Turner Field, where the Braves will host Tampa Bay for three straight interleague games. Atlanta is 13-5 all- time against the Rays, including a 4-2 record as the host.
The Rays hope Price can get a six-game road trip started in style when he makes his 13th start. Price has won two straight and six of his last seven starts, and is tied for the American League lead with nine wins. He got more than enough run support in his last appearance, a 10-1 pounding of Toronto last Wednesday at Tropicana Field.
Price limited the Blue Jays to a run on four hits and a season-high five walks over six innings. The left-hander and former No. 1 overall pick lowered his earned run average to 2.23 and pushed his 2010 mark to 9-2 in 12 trips to the hill. He has been just as sharp away from home, going 5-1 in six road starts, and will face the Braves for the first time.
Tampa Bay just went 3-3 on a six-game homestand and lost three of the last four contests on the residency, including Sunday's 6-1 loss to the in-state rival Florida Marlins at the Trop. Jeff Niemann was roughed up in six innings, as he surrendered five runs and nine hits to suffer his first setback of the season (6-1).
"They were swinging the bats well and didn't miss any mistakes," Niemann said of the Marlins.
Sean Rodriguez had three hits and Ben Zobrist recorded a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning for the Rays, who are tied with the New York Yankees atop the American League East standings. The Rays own a sizzling 22-8 away record and will visit the Marlins in south Florida for three games over the weekend.
Atlanta will make it tough for the Rays to keep their strong road record intact, as it puts a nine-game home winning streak on the line Tuesday. It will play 15 of the next 18 games in Dixie, where it is 19-6 this season.
The NL East-leading Braves went 6-5 on an 11-game road trip and closed out the swing by taking the last two meetings of a three-game series in Minnesota. In Sunday's 7-3 victory in the series finale at Target Field, Kris Medlen fired a career-best eight innings of three-run ball and struck out five to improve to 4-1 this season. Jonny Venters threw a scoreless ninth to preserve the win.
Troy Glaus went 4-for-5 with two home runs and three RBI, while Martin Prado had three hits, including a solo home run, and Eric Hinske finished with a pair of doubles and an RBI in the win.
"It ends us on a winning road trip, which was really a tough one," said Braves manager Bobby Cox on the club's 6-5 swing. "We could have won two more, but could have lost two more as well. We think we've played great baseball on the entire trip."
Cox can only hope another change of scenery will be key for Kawakami, who brings his 0-8 mark and 4.48 ERA in 12 starts to the mound this evening. Kawakami was excellent in his most start last Wednesday, but did not factor into the decision of a 2-1 loss at Arizona. He kept the Diamondbacks scoreless over six innings and scattered four hits with a season-high eight strikeouts. The righty gave up five runs in 6 1/3 innings the previous time out in a loss at Los Angeles on June 4.
Kawakami is 0-1 with a 3.68 ERA in four home starts this season and has never faced Tampa Bay in his career.
The Braves, who are 1 1/2 games ahead of the New York Mets in the division, own a 112-102 mark against the American League. Tampa Bay is 102-118 in interleague play.
<< Caution: Is NASCAR now in show business?
Brooklyn, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Debris, or not debris? That is the question
NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin has been asking after a late-race caution for debris
possibly cost him a victory in Sunday's race at Michigan International
Speedway.
Ham
<< New Zealand earns dramatic draw vs. Slovakia
Rustenburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Winston Reid scored three minutes
into stoppage time and New Zealand earned a dramatic 1-1 draw against Slovakia
on Tuesday in the FIFA World Cup Group F action at Royal Bafokeng Stadium.
Robert V
<< United signs Montenegrin midfielder Boskovic as a DP
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United signed Montenegrin midfielder
Branko Boskovic as a Designated Player, the Major League Soccer club announced
late Monday.
"We are excited to have concluded a deal to bring Branko to D.C.
<< Dementieva to skip Wimbledon
Monte Carlo, Monaco (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Elena Dementieva has withdrawn from
Wimbledon because of a calf injury that forced her to retire during the French
Open.
Dementieva said on her personal website that she has not fully recovered fro
Athletics continue road trip against Cubs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics are still searching for a win on
their current road trip, as they begin a three-game series against the Chicago
Cubs this evening from historic Wrigley Field.
Oakland was swept in three games at San F
Komisarek would have been good choice, too >>
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fans of the Maple Leafs are a long-suffering
sort.
The Leafs now have the longest Cup-less streak in the NHL, having not won since
May 1967. The Chicago Blackhawks heaved the weight of going Cup-less since
Leafs' captain Phaneuf relishes new role >>
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the first time in two seasons, the
Toronto Maple Leafs have a captain and his name is Dion Phaneuf.
The former Calgary Flames defenseman was bestowed the captaincy of the historic
franchise at a media
Reeling Pirates return home to take on White Sox >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Lincoln makes his home debut when the Pittsburgh
Pirates and Chicago White Sox open a three-game interleague set this evening
at PNC Park.
Lincoln, Pittsburgh's top pitching prospect, made his big league debut
Wednes
Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.
Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.
Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.
If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.
Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.
By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.
In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.
So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.
While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.
There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.
In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:
SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.
XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.
XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.
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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
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