Loney's HR in 13th gets Dodgers past reeling Mets
Baseball Betting Lines
07/24/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Loney hit the game-winning home run in the bottom of the 13th to lift Los Angeles to a 3-2 win over New York in the third meeting of a four-game set.
George Sherrill (1-1) tossed a scoreless top half of the frame to earn the win for the Dodgers, who used nine pitchers to win for a third time in their last four tries.
Oliver Perez (0-4), who worked out of a jam in the 12th, suffered the loss after yielding the decisive run in one inning of work for the Mets, who have lost eight of their last 10.
Matt Kemp flied out to open the 13th before Loney blasted a 1-0 offering over the wall in right-center field for his seventh long ball of the year.
The Dodgers had put runners at the corners with nobody out in the 12th but could not score. Elmer Dessens got pinch-hitter Russell Martin to ground out and advance Garret Anderson to second base.
Perez was brought on to face Andre Ethier, who fouled out for the second out before Rafael Furcal was intentionally walked to load the bases. Pinch-hitter Jamey Carroll bounced into a force play to end the threat.
Jonathan Broxton, Jeff Weaver and Sherrill combined to retire all 12 New York hitters in extra innings.
Furcal started the home first with a single, moved to third base on an errant Mike Pelfrey pickoff attempt and scored on Xavier Paul's sacrifice fly.
Kemp and Loney followed with singles but Pelfrey escaped further damage by getting two groundouts to end the frame.
New York loaded the bases with one out in the fourth but could not score after Rod Barajas struck out and Pelfrey grounded out.
Blake DeWitt led off the bottom of the inning with a triple and stayed put after Casey Blake struck out and Anderson was intentionally walked. Brad Ausmus then came through with a base hit to plate DeWitt to make it 2-0.
Pelfrey was charged with both runs on six hits and a pair of walks over five innings, while Los Angeles starter Carlos Monasterios went five scoreless frames in his first start since June 18, allowing six hits while walking one and fanning three.
James McDonald opened the sixth on the hill for the Dodgers. and gave up a one-out double to Ike Davis and walked Jason Bay before Barajas singled to left to deliver Davis, cutting the deficit in half.
After a couple of matchup switches, pinch-hitter Jeff Francoeur reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases with one out. Jose Reyes singled to drive in Bay, tie the game, and chase Jack Taschner after he had faced only two batters. Travis Schlichting took over and got Luis Castillo to ground into an inning-ending double play.
The Mets' last threat came in the ninth, when David Wright struck out against Broxton with runners at second and third to end the inning.
Game Notes
Barajas left the game in the sixth inning with a strained right oblique...The Mets have been held to four runs or fewer in 14 of their last 15 games and have scored multiple runs in only three of 99 innings since the All-Star break...Wright has scored only one run in his last 14 games and driven in just four over his last 17 games...Reyes went 2-for-5 and has hit safely in 10 of his last 12 games...Los Angeles is 6-3 in extra innings games, while the Mets are 4-7...The Dodgers have won seven of the last nine meetings on home soil.
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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro
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.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.