Lopez solid on the mound as Phils handle Mets

Baseball Betting Lines

07/03/2009 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phillies recalled Rodrigo Lopez from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to start the opener of a three-game series with the rival Mets, and the right-hander responded with a quality outing in a 7-2 Philadelphia win.

Lopez (1-0), who had not started a game in the majors since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2007, held New York to two runs on six hits and a walk in 6 1/3 frames for the Phils, who were coming off a 3-6 road trip.

Jimmy Rollins, trying to put a season-long slump behind him, recorded two doubles and two RBI, while Chase Utley and Greg Dobbs each drove in a pair for Philly, which also received a solo homer from Jayson Werth.

Livan Hernandez (5-4) dropped his third straight start, as the veteran was pelted for seven runs on 10 hits and four walks in a season-low three-plus innings for the Mets, who have dropped six of eight.

Nick Evans and Brian Schneider each knocked in a run in defeat.

The Phillies' first four hitters reached base, with Rollins doubling and Shane Victorino and Utley following with base hits, the latter knocking in a run. Ryan Howard walked, and after a Werth strikeout, Dobbs singled in front of a diving Evans in left field to give the Phils a 3-0 lead.

Victorino tripled to center in the second and Utley chased him home with a sacrifice fly.

Werth homered to left to open the third, and Rollins drove in a pair later in the inning after Pedro Feliz and Paul Bako singled and doubled, respectively.

The Phillies wasted a bases-loaded, no-out opportunity in the fourth, but Lopez kept the Mets silent until the seventh. Ryan Church led off with a double, while Evans and Schneider answered with one-out, RBI two-baggers.

Chan Ho Park recorded the final two outs of the seventh and worked a scoreless eighth, and Ryan Madson hurled a 1-2-3 ninth to cap the win.

Game Notes

To make room for Lopez, a two-time 15-game winner for the Baltimore Orioles, the Phillies designated pitcher Jack Taschner for assignment...Victorino and Church each finished with three hits...The Phillies improved to just 14-22 this season at home, where they will play their next nine games...The season series is tied, 4-4.

Wwwgamblink Baseball Betting News

<< Wizards will try to make move vs. powerful Houston club
Kansas City, KA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Wizards face a tough task on Saturday when they host the Major League Soccer leading Houston Dynamo at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. The Wizards (5-5-4) are keen on making a move up the Eas

<< Nash gets huge deal from Blue Jackets
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Columbus Blue Jackets forward Rick Nash was reportedly signed to an eight-year, $62.4 million contract extension. The Columbus Dispatch reports Nash's deal means an annual salary cap hit of $7.8 million

<< Lopez makes debut with Phillies
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies called up pitcher Rodrigo Lopez from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to start Friday's game against the New York Mets. Lopez is being used as a spot-starter due to Antonio Bas

<< Diaz remains tied for Jamie Farr lead
Sylvania, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Laura Diaz birdied four of the last six holes Friday to remain tied for the lead after two rounds of the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic. Diaz carded a four-under 67 to complete two rounds at 11-under-pa

<< Bowyer captures pole for Daytona Nationwide race
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After a lengthy rain delay, Clint Bowyer won the pole for Friday's Subway Jalapeno 250 Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway. Bowyer, the 2008 Nationwide champion, lapped the

Leaving a trail: Turkoglu breaks off talks with Blazers >>
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sharp-shooting forward Hedo Turkoglu appeared headed to the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday afternoon, but by nightfall those talks apparently broke off. The Oregonian newspaper originally reported Tu

Stockton shares Edmonton Open lead with two others >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brady Stockton posted a three-under 69 Friday to remain a co-leader after two rounds of the Edmonton Open. Stockton, who shared the first-round lead with Robert Gates, completed 36 holes at 10-under-par

Braves hold on to beat Nationals, extend win streak to five >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brooks Conrad's first home run of his career was a pinch-hit, three-run shot to help the Atlanta Braves take a 9-8 win over the Washington Nationals in the opener of a three-game set. Chipper Jones, Yunel Es

Bottom feeders, L.A., N.E. aim to gain ground >>
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two Major League Soccer clubs stuck in the bottom third of their respective conference tables square off on Saturday when the Los Angeles Galaxy host the New England Revolution at The Home Depot Center.

Choo and Tribe pound A's >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shin-Soo Choo went 4-for-5 with two homers, a career-high seven runs batted in and scored four times, as the Cleveland Indians crushed the Oakland Athletics, 15-3, in the opener of a three-game series

Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional basketball lines can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.


SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.