Padres dig reeling Dodgers deeper hole in NL West

Baseball Betting Lines

08/03/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chase Headley and Will Venable each hit a three-run homer, as the San Diego Padres took a 10-5 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of a four-game series.

Headley finished 4-for-5 for the NL West-leading Padres, who were coming off a 3-3 homestand that included a series win over the Dodgers. Yorvit Torrealba extended his hitting streak to 15 games by going 3-for-5.

San Diego starter Clayton Richard (9-5) got the victory after laboring through 5 1/3 innings, in which he threw 105 pitches. Richard allowed four runs on 10 hits and three walks, and struck out six.

"I thought I had a pretty good outing, but the numbers may not show it," Richard said. "Every time we play a division rival, we try to take care of business."

Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda (8-10) allowed five runs -- four earned -- in four innings to take the loss, while Jeff Weaver gave up five runs over the next two frames to put the game further out of reach.

Matt Kemp had a career-high five hits for the Dodgers, who had 14 hits overall, but only two for extra-bases -- Kemp's double and home run. Kemp had three total RBI for Los Angeles, which has lost six in a row to match a season high.

"You make your own breaks," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "We have to start doing things right. Our confidence level is not good right now. We got more hits tonight, we just couldn't keep the other team from scoring."

San Diego never trailed and took control with a five-run fourth inning. After Headley and Torrealba reached on singles, Venable hit a sinker to right-center field for his ninth homer of the season.

Chris Denorfia followed with a single and Richard attempted a sacrifice, but Russell Martin's throwing error allowed the runners to advance into scoring position. Miguel Tejada made it a 5-0 game with a two-out single, recording his first two RBI for the Padres since coming over from Baltimore in Thursday's trade.

Los Angeles got two of the runs back on run-scoring singles from pinch-hitter Ronnie Belliard and Kemp, but the Padres' offense was back at it in the fifth.

With Weaver on the mound, Ryan Ludwick singled and Headley doubled. Torrealba's infield single brought in Ludwick, while Venable's sacrifice fly plated Headley for a 7-2 lead.

Headley again helped to push the advantage in the sixth. With two on and two away, he hit his eighth homer of the year to center field.

Richard was removed with one out and runners on the corners in the bottom half of the inning, and was replaced by Ryan Webb. Rafael Furcal and Kemp hit RBI singles to get the Dodgers within 10-4, but James Loney followed with a line out, and Kemp was doubled off first to end the inning.

Webb stayed in and pitched a scoreless seventh, while Edward Mujica threw the eighth, giving up a two-out homer to Kemp. Ernesto Frieri pitched a shutout ninth to end the game.

Game Notes

Headley recorded his third four-hit game of the season...The Dodgers fell to 5-13 since the All-Star break...LA went 6-for-18 with runners in scoring position and left 12 on base.

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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.