Harrell wins MLB debut as White Sox extend home win streak

Baseball Betting Lines

07/30/2010 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gordon Beckham had two hits and drove in two runs to support six solid innings from Lucas Harrell in his major league debut as Chicago downed Oakland, 6-1, in the opener of a three-game set.

Harrell (1-0), promoted from Triple-A Charlotte earlier in the day, yielded a lone run on four hits while working around five walks for the White Sox, who have won five in a row.

Paul Konerko chipped in with two hits, a run scored and a run batted in and Dayan Viciedo collected three hits and scored once for Chicago, which extended its winning streak at US Cellular Field to 12 in a row.

Brett Anderson (2-2) was tagged with the loss after giving up five runs on 10 hits over 5 1/3 innings in his first start since June 3 for the Athletics, who have dropped three out of four.

Juan Pierre opened the home first with a single, stole second base with one out and scored the game's first run when Alex Rios followed with a base hit.

Oakland tied the game in the fourth after Mark Ellis led off with a single, moved to third base on two groundouts and scored on an infield hit by Cliff Pennington off the glove of Harrell.

The White Sox regained the lead for good in the home half with a trio of runs. Konerko doubled and scored the go-ahead run on an A.J. Pierzynski base hit. Viciedo followed with a double and a ground out by Andruw Jones brought home Pierzynski to make it 3-1. Beckham then came through with a base hit to deliver Viciedo to complete the rally.

Pierzynski and Viciedo put together back-to-back singles with one out in the sixth to chase Anderson from the game.

Brad Ziegler took over and walked Jones to load the bases for Beckham, who singled to right to drive in Pierzynski to push the lead to four. Pierre then lined into an inning-ending double play.

Konerko's sacrifice fly off Henry Rodriguez in the seventh made it a 6-1 game.

Game Notes

The last time the White Sox claimed 12 straight games at home was July 1- August 5, 1989 when they won 13 in a row...Chicago has won 19 of its last 20 games on home soil...Harrell went 9-9 with 4.24 ERA in 22 starts at Charlotte. He became the first White Sox pitcher to win his first big league start since Kip Wells did it on August 2, 1999 at Detroit...Anderson was removed from his last outing against Boston due to left eblbow soreness and was placed on the disabled list the next day...He made four rehabilitation starts in the minor leagues before being activated to start Friday's game...Oakland also reinstated outfielder Travis Buck from the 60-day disabled list and transferred him to Triple-A Sacramento; placed pitcher Andrew Bailey on the 15-day DL and transferred outfielder Ryan Sweeney to the 60-day DL...The A's have used the disabled list 84 times since the start of the 2007 season, second only to Texas, which has used it 87 times, over that time span.

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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.