04/13/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milwaukee ace Ben Sheets hopes to improve his fortunes against the St. Louis Cardinals tonight, when the Brewers visit for the opener of a three-game series at Busch Stadium.
Sheets, who began the season by allowing two hits in a complete-game victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers before dropping a subsequent start against the Chicago Cubs, is just 4-13 with a 4.04 earned run average in 21 career starts against St. Louis.
The former first-round draft choice has lost five straight decisions against the Cardinals.
Sheets reached double-digits in victories in each of his first five big-league seasons, including a career-high 12 in 2004, before injuries limited him to just 17 starts and a 6-7 record in 2006.
Countering for the Cardinals is 25-year-old right-hander Anthony Reyes, who was beaten by Houston in his first start of the season on April 7.
In that game Reyes allowed five hits and three runs over five innings, striking out three and walking one. Lifetime against the Brewers, Reyes is 2-1 with a 5.06 ERA in five appearances, including four starts.
On Wednesday in Miami, Dave Bush scattered eight hits and one run over six innings as Milwaukee topped Florida, 5-2, in the finale a three-game series between the clubs.
The game did not begin until well after 8 p.m. (et) because both teams had to make up the remainder of Tuesday's suspended contest. Rickie Weeks scored on Prince Fielder's RBI single in the 13th inning to give the Brewers a 3-2 win.
Bush (1-1) fanned five and did not walk a batter to earn his first win of the season. Francisco Cordero hurled a perfect ninth to notch his third save of the season and second of the night. He also closed out Milwaukee's victory in the suspended contest.
J.J. Hardy went 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI for the Brewers, while Weeks had a triple, a home run and scored three times, Gabe Gross had a pair of hits and drove in two runs, while Geoff Jenkins finished 2-for-4.
St. Louis has won five of six games since opening the season with three straight home losses against the New York Mets.
In Pittsburgh, Chris Duncan drilled a pinch-hit homer in the ninth inning to snap a tie and lift the Cardinals to a 3-2 victory over the Pirates. David Eckstein and Preston Wilson also drove in runs for the Cardinals.
The lefty-swinging Duncan was sent up to pinch-hit in the ninth against Salomon Torres (0-1) and drove a 2-2 pitch from the right-hander over the wall in center field for his second homer of the season.
The blast made a winner of Ryan Franklin (1-0), who pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings of relief. Adam Wainwright went the first 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits with four walks and four strikeouts.
St. Louis took nine of the 16 meetings between the NL Central foes last season, including six of 10 games held at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals are 20-12 against Milwaukee since the start of 2005.
<< Pistons, Raptors put winning streaks on the line
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Central Division-champion Detroit Pistons shoot
for their fourth straight win tonight when they pay a visit to the Toronto
Raptors at the Air Canada Centre.
Detroit posted its third straight division crown and captured
<< Indians return home once again in opener with White Sox
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians hold a home opener for the second
time this season as the club returns to Jacobs Field for the first of three
consecutive meetings with the rival Chicago White Sox.
It's been a wacky week for the Indi
<< Two aces take the hill as Blue Jays host Tigers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A terrific pitching matchup is on tap in Toronto this
evening when Roy Halladay and the Blue Jays continue their four-game series
with Jeremy Bonderman and the Detroit Tigers at Rogers Centre.
Halladay has owned the Tigers
<< A's try to give Haren support against Yanks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Haren hopes to get a little run support this evening
when the Oakland Athletics begin a three-game set with the New York Yankees at
McAfee Coliseum.
Haren bas been absolutely tremendous in his first two starts this yea
Nets try to get back on winning track versus Knicks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets try and get back on the winning track
this evening when they host the Atlantic Division-rival New York Knicks at
Continental Airlines Arena.
New Jersey had a two-game winning streak come to an end wit
Playoff-hopeful Clippers host Portland >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Clippers try to stay alive in the Western
Conference playoff race tonight, as they welcome the Portland Trail Blazers to
the Staples Center.
LA is tied with the Golden State Warriors for the eighth and fin
Suns try to collect 60th win against slumping Lakers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pacific Division-champion Phoenix Suns meet what could
be their opponent in the first round of the playoffs this evening, as they
welcome the struggling Los Angeles Lakers to US Airways Center.
Phoenix is the second s
Warriors continue push towards postseason in Sacramento >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Golden State Warriors continue their push to qualify
for the postseason for the first time since 1994, as they visit the Sacramento
Kings tonight at ARCO Arena.
The Warriors are tied with the Los Angeles Clippers for
While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
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