Hits Into Lyles Mark

Baseball Betting Lines

Against the Chicago White Sox earlier in the week Hammel permitted just two runs on six hits and a pair of walks over seven innings, yet he didn't post a single strikeout for the first time in 2011.

 

Despite the team's dismal first half of the season, the Royals have actually been hitting the ball fairly well through 83 games, placing seventh in the majors in batting average at .262 entering play on Sunday. Unfortunately, KC hurlers have failed to make timely hitting stand up game after game due to the fact that they have one of the highest ERAs in baseball at the moment (4.58).

 

"I thought, as expected, he didn't feel strong throughout the game," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "It was hot and he was coming off being real sick. I thought the two pitches, the one pitch he tried to go in on [Domonic] Brown and the other pitch he tried to go away, and it cost him four runs. Other than that, I actually thought he pitched pretty well."

 

Andrew Miller (2-0) worked six innings for the win, giving up seven hits, two runs and two walks with three strikeouts.

 

J.A. Happ (3-10) lasted 6 2/3 frames in defeat and was touched for seven hits and five runs while walking three and fanning as many batters.

 

Houston will hand the ball to rookie Jordan Lyles, who at 0-3 is still searching for his first big league win. Lyles absorbed the loss on Tuesday against the Texas Rangers, as he was hit for five runs and 10 hits in six innings, upping his ERA to 4.75.

 

This will be his first-ever appearance against the Red Sox.

 

(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta rookie Brandon Beachy tries to win his fourth straight decision this afternoon when the Braves wrap up a three-game interleague set against the Baltimore Orioles at Turner Field. Beachy won his second straight start on Monday in Seattle, holding the Mariners to a run and three runs, while striking out nine in six innings to run his record to 3-1. The Indiana native has allowed just two runs over his last two starts and has surrendered three or less in eight of his 10 outings for a 3.04 earned run average on the year.

 

The undrafted Beachy, who has never faced the O's, has compiled 81 strikeouts through the first 13 starts and 71 1/3 innings of his career.

 

Baltimore, meanwhile, will counter with an impressive rookie of its own in lefty Zach Britton, who has fallen on some hard times after a sizzling start to his big league career. Britton opened the year by winning five of his first six starts, but has gone just 1-5 in 10 starts since.

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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.

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