Jays shoot for more success against O's

Baseball Betting Lines

07/17/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays will try to continue their mastery of the Baltimore Orioles, as the clubs resume a three-game set tonight at Camden Yards.

The Blue Jays have won all seven meetings this season with Baltimore and that includes a 4-2 victory in last night's series opener.

Ricky Romero (7-6) tossed seven solid innings, allowing two earned runs and five hits for his first victory in exactly a month. He also fanned five batters and walked one for Toronto, which started a 10-game road trip on Friday.

Kevin Gregg tossed a perfect ninth to record his 21st save of the year.

Aaron Hill went 3-for-4 with a solo homer for the Blue Jays, who have won four of their past six games. Yunel Escobar went 1-for-4 with a walk in his Toronto debut. He was acquired from the Braves on Wednesday as part of a five-player deal that saw Alex Gonzalez go to Atlanta.

Julio Lugo had two hits and an RBI for the Orioles, who had a four-game winning streak snapped. Baltimore is now just 3-12 in the last 15 meetings versus Toronto.

Brad Bergesen (3-7) allowed four runs on nine hits in six innings to suffer another loss. The right-hander hasn't tasted victory since May 12 against Seattle.

Getting the nod for the Orioles tonight is Jeremy Guthrie, who is seeking his first win since May 25th. The right-hander is 0-6 with a 6.32 ERA over his last eight starts, allowing four earned runs in just 4 2/3 innings of a 6-4 win over Texas in his last outing on July 8th.

In 12 career starts against the Blue Jays, Guthrie is 2-5 with a 3.74 ERA. His current winless drought started against Toronto on May 30th, when he surrendered four earned runs and seven hits over six innings of a 6-1 setback.

Brandon Morrow will toe the rubber for Toronto and he is looking for his first road victory since September 12th. The hard throwing right-hander has really struggled away from home this season, going 0-5 with a 6.80 ERA in nine starts on the road.

In his last start, Morrow only lasted four innings, yielding five runs - four earned - and eight hits in the team's eventual 9-5 home win against Boston on July 10th.

Morrow's lone career start against Baltimore came on April 9th, when he permitted five earned runs over five innings. He walked five and did not receive a decision in Toronto's 7-6 triumph.

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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.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.