Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
06/26/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Loney went 2-for-4 with four RBI as the Los Angeles Dodgers clobbered the New York Yankees, 9-4, to give manager Joe Torre his first win against his former team.
The Yankees took a 2-1 decision on Friday in the opener of this three-game interleague set. It was the first time Torre had faced his former team after ending his 12-year run as skipper of the club following the 2007 season.
Rafael Furcal went 3-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored while Manny Ramirez scored twice and drove in a run for the Dodgers, who won for just the second time in their past nine games.
Hiroki Kuroda (7-5) went 5 1/3 innings to get the win as he gave up four runs on seven hits with three walks and five strikeouts.
Mark Teixeira hit a three-run home run and Alex Rodriguez drove in the other run for the Yankees, who had won five of six coming into the contest. A.J. Burnett's (6-7) struggles continued as he was tagged for six runs on six hits with six walks and five strikeouts in three-plus innings to drop his fifth straight start.
The Yankees jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on Teixeira's 13th homer of the year, a three-run shot over the wall in right-center.
Los Angeles got two back in the bottom of the frame on an RBI ground-rule double from Ramirez followed by a sacrifice fly from Loney to make it a 3-2 game.
New York added a run in the third as Rodriguez's fielder's choice scored Derek Jeter for a 4-2 lead.
The Dodgers, though, answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. With the bases loaded and no outs, Loney stroked a single to right that plated two. After Casey Blake walked, Russell Martin hit into a double play that scored Ramirez for a 5-4 lead.
Los Angeles made it a 7-4 game in the fourth as Loney's RBI single was followed by a run-scoring double from Blake.
The Yanks put men on first and second with one out in the sixth, but Hong-Chih Kuo came on in relief and retired the next two batters to keep the three-run lead intact.
Kuo stayed on for the seventh inning and set the Yankees down in order while the Dodgers solidified their lead in the home half of the frame on an RBI single from Furcal, that saw him advance to third on Nick Swisher's errant throw to home, followed by Matt Kemp's RBI double for a 9-4 advantage.
Jeff Weaver was on the mound for the eighth, but was pulled with one out and runners on first and second. George Sherrill then took the mound and got pinch-hitter Chad Huffman to line out, and Jonathan Broxton followed by striking out Jeter to end the frame.
Broxton stayed on for the ninth and worked around a two-out walk to Rodriguez to seal the victory. The game ended on a beautiful diving stop by Furcal on a Robinson Cano grounder.
Game Notes
Jeter celebrated his 36th birthday Saturday...This is just the second regular- season series between these teams. The last was in 2004 when the Dodgers took two of three in LA...Andy Pettitte will take the mound for New York in the series finale on Sunday and will be opposed by Clayton Kershaw...Burnett fell to 3-3 lifetime against the Dodgers...Both teams left 10 men on base, but New York went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position while Los Angeles went 6- for-14.
<< Sportswriter captures North America Cup at Mohawk
Campbellville, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Patch Award winner Sportswriter led
most of the way and was able to hold on to win Saturday's $1.5 million North
America Cup at Mohawk Raceway. The three-year-old pacer covered the mile in
1:48 3/
<< Reds roll to win over struggling Indians
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Phillips reached base three times
and drove in a run, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the floundering Cleveland
Indians, 6-4, in the second of three interleague games between the two Ohio
basebal
<< Los Angeles, Toronto FC battle to scoreless draw
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Donovan Ricketts made just one save to earn his
ninth shutout the season Saturday in a 0-0 tie against Toronto FC at BMO Field
in MLS.
L.A. (10-1-3), which leads the Western Conference by nine points, has allo
<< Cameron, Red Sox top Giants
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Cameron slugged a three-run homer
and Darnell McDonald hit a solo shot as Boston doubled up San Francisco, 4-2,
in the second installment of a three-game interleague series.
Adrian Beltre added
Angel lifts New York over Kansas City >>
Kansas City, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Pablo Angel scored two of New York's
three second-half goals, lifting the Red Bulls to a 3-0 win over the Kansas
City Wizards on Saturday at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in MLS.
Salou Ibrahim scored
Buchholz exits with hyperextended knee >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz
exited Saturday's game against the Giants after pulling up lame running the
bases in second inning.
The Red Sox indicated the 25-year-old right-hander suffe
Dallas sends Chivas USA to sixth straight loss >>
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Ferreira converted a penalty kick in the
61st minute, two minutes after Chivas USA erased a first-half own goal, as FC
Dallas won 2-1 at The Home Depot Center on Saturday night in MLS.
Ante Jazic turne
Cahill, A's shut out hapless Pirates >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oakland's Trevor Cahill tossed 7 2/3 scoreless
innings, sending the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-0 defeat and their 16th
consecutive road loss.
The 22-year-old Cahill (7-2) walked three and allowed two
MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.
Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.
According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).
Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.
''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.
Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.
''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''
Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.
”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.
For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting