Bedard, Orioles fan A's

Baseball Betting Lines

07/21/2007 - Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major league strikeout leader Erik Bedard fanned 11 batters over seven one-hit innings, as the Baltimore Orioles routed the Oakland Athletics, 6-1, in the opener of a three-game series at McAfee Coliseum.

Bedard (9-4), who has 167 strikeouts in 2007, is also 6-1 in 12 road starts this season, and defeated the Chicago White Sox his last time out on July 13 at Camden Yards. Bedard was scratched from Wednesday's scheduled start due to a stiff neck, and Daniel Cabrera stood in, yet walked only three batters in Friday's sterling performance en route to winning his fifth straight decision.

All nine batters had a hit, except Ramon Hernandez who had two, for the Orioles, who dropped two of three at Seattle after taking three of four from the White Sox last weekend.

Mark Ellis homered for Oakland, which put to rest a nine-game losing streak with Wednesday's 6-0 win over the Texas Rangers in the finale of a three-game series. Shannon Stewart and Bobby Kielty both singled to account for the only other hits in the game for the A's.

Joe Blanton (8-7), who has dropped his last three starts, allowed six runs - five earned - on 10 hits with a walk and three strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings for Oakland.

Baltimore put up a run in the first when Corey Patterson singled, stole second, and scored on Nick Markakis' single.

The O's added another run in the second, as Jay Payton lined a lead-off single, and later scored on Luis Hernandez's single courtesy of a fielding error by Stewart.

Baltimore added a run in the fourth, as Aubrey Huff doubled before later coming home on Ramon Hernandez's single; and in the fifth when Nick Markakis walked and advanced 90 feet on a wild pitch before Kevin Millar's RBI single.

The Orioles tacked on two more runs in the sixth. Gibbons singled, moved to second on a passed ball, to third on a Ramon Hernandez single, and both baserunners scored on Brian Roberts' double.

Oakland got its lone run in the bottom half on Ellis' homer to left field on a 1-0 pitch, ending Bedard's 21-inning scoreless streak, during which he struck out 31 and allowed only five hits. Bedard had retired 13 straight prior to the long ball.

Game Notes

Oakland center fielder Nick Swisher left in the seventh inning with a sprained right shoulder after attempting a diving catch at the warning track in center field...Baltimore activated pitcher Steve Trachsel from the 15-day disabled list prior to the game and optioned pitcher Garrett Olson to Triple-A Norfolk...Oakland is 3-3 against the Orioles this season, but Baltimore has won the last three matchups. The A's are 20-9 over their last 29 meetings with the O's.

Sportgambleonline Baseball Betting News

<< Blake survives to reach Countrywide semifinals
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second seed James Blake edged fellow published author and countryman Vincent Spadea 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 to advance to the semifinals of the Countrywide Classic on Friday. Blake, whose autobiography "

<< Oakland's Swisher exits early
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oakland center fielder Nick Swisher left Friday's 6-1 loss against Baltimore in the seventh inning with a sprained right shoulder. Swisher, who is hitting .256 with 46 RBI this season, got hurt attempting a

<< Beckett wins No. 13, Lugo slams BoSox over ChiSox
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Beckett struck out 10 over six innings and Boston drilled the Chicago White Sox, 10-3 in a game that saw a home run call blown, leading to the ejection of Red Sox manager Terry Francona in the first inning.

<< Cook pitches Rockies past Nats
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Cook tossed seven scoreless innings, and Todd Helton drove in two runs as the Colorado Rockies beat the Washington Nationals, 3-1, in the second of four games at RFK Stadium. Cook (6-6) had a stro

<< Beckett wins No. 13, Crisp slams BoSox over ChiSox
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Beckett struck out 10 over six innings and Boston drilled the Chicago White Sox, 10-3 in a game that saw a home run call blown, leading to the ejection of Red Sox manager Terry Francona in the first inning.

Eaton beats former team as Phils top Padres >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chase Utley went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run as the Philadelphia Phillies downed the San Diego Padres, 7-3, in the second of a four-game series at Petco Park. Ryan Howard went 2-for-4 with an RBI

Beltran, Mets hold off Dodgers >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Beltran homered for the second straight game and the New York Mets scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning on a throwing error in a 4-1 triumph over the Los Angeles Dodgers. David Wr

Bonds may sit as Giants resume set with Brewers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With the MLB commissioner looking on, Barry Bonds will again try to inch closer to Hank Aaron's all-time home run record this afternoon when the San Francisco Giants play the middle portion of their three-game series with the

Heads up: Penny goes for 12th win as Dodgers take on Mets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Penny will try for his 12th win of the season this afternoon when the Los Angeles Dodgers continue their four-game series with the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium. Penny has been outstanding so far this year, posting

Padres set to honor Gwynn, battle Phils >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A battle between 44-year-old left-handers is on tap for tonight as Jamie Moyer and the Philadelphia Phillies play the third of four straight games against David Wells and the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. The matchup of

Sportsbook Betting Lines

Who Makes the Sportsbook Betting Lines?

Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.

“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.

“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “

What are the Football Betting Lines Trying to Accomplish?

There is a common misconception that point spreads represent the oddsmakers’ prediction of how many points the favorite will win by. That is not the case at all – their intent is NOT to evenly split the ATS result between the teams; rather, their goal is to attract equal betting action on both sides. Stated another way, they want to create a line that half the people find appealing to bet one way while the other half find it appealing to bet the other way (known as ‘dividing the action’).

Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).

How the Opening Line Is Made

The opening line is the first line created by the oddsmakers, which is then sent out to sportsbooks. Of course there is an entire method to the madness on how the opening line is created. Seba explained that it all starts with each oddsmaker creating a line on each game based upon their own personal approach. This usually includes having up-to-date power ratings on each team.

Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.

Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.

Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.

The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.

A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.

Why Sports Betting Lines Change

Once the opening line is released by LVSC, the individual sportsbooks decide if they want to make any adjustments before offering it to the public. Reasons for such adjustments include:

Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game

Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)

The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.

Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.

For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.

Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."

“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”

To visit this internet sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your sports betting needs and World Series odds.