Royals continue set with Orioles in Kansas City

Baseball Betting Lines

07/30/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles hope a flurry of changes can help lead to more results like the team produced on Thursday.

The revamped club will set its sights on a second straight victory over the Kansas City Royals, who'll be out to put an end to a five-game losing streak in tonight's clash between the teams from Kauffman Stadium.

Baltimore announced prior to Thursday's game it had hired Buck Showalter to serve as the team's new manager, although the former Yankees, Diamondbacks and Rangers skipper won't officially take over until the Orioles return from their current road trip on Tuesday. Baltimore fired field general Dave Trembley on June 4, with interim manager Juan Samuel having gone 17-31 since assuming those duties.

Showalter won't have Miguel Tejada to put in his lineup, however, as the Orioles traded the former American League MVP to San Diego on Thursday in exchange for minor league pitcher Wynn Pelzer.

Baltimore did just fine without Tejada in last night's opener of this four- game series, rallying for a 6-5 extra-inning victory to stop a five-game slide. Ty Wigginton, another Orioles player rumored to be on the trading block, drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 11th inning.

The Orioles trailed 5-3 after five innings, but scored single runs in both the sixth and eighth frames to draw even. Corey Patterson knotted the score with a solo homer off Royals reliever Robinson Tejeda with two out in the top of the eighth.

"Going over the scouting report on him, we knew he had a good fastball," Patterson said of Tejeda. "So I told myself to just say 'heater.' In the back of my mind, I thought he was going to throw me something off-speed and I kept fouling them. He didn't and obviously during that at-bat, when you see the same pitch, you're going to get a pretty good track on it."

In the 11th, Cesar Izturis worked a leadoff walk against Kansas City's Blake Wood (0-2) and moved to third on a Brian Roberts single before crossing the plate on Wigginton's fly ball to left.

"It just boils down to a leadoff walk," said Wood afterward. "You just can't do that [with the] game tied like that. I was just trying to be a little too fine."

Both Wigginton and Patterson finished with two RBI and Nick Markakis added a solo homer for Baltimore, which received a combined 7 2/3 scoreless innings from its relief corps after starter Brian Matusz was rocked for five runs over the first 3 1/3 frames. David Hernandez (5-7) picked up the win by shutting out the Royals in the ninth and 10th.

Kansas City, which has now lost 14 of its last 17 contests, received two hits and an RBI out of Yuniesky Betancourt in its most recent setback.

The Royals will be trying to get back in the win column tonight, as well as enabling the recently-acquired Sean O'Sullivan to notch his first victory with his new team. Tonight the young right-hander will be making his second start since being obtained by Kansas City from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim last week as part of a trade that sent infielder Alberto Callaspo to the Halos.

O'Sullivan's Royals debut did not go well, as the 22-year-old was tagged for five runs and a pair of homers over five innings in a road loss to the New York Yankees on Sunday. Ironically, he defeated the defending world champions in Yankee Stadium in his final start as a Angel, tossing six innings of two- run ball and logging four strikeouts back on July 20.

The San Diego native made two starts against Baltimore as a rookie last season and received a no-decision both times, although he allowed 10 runs and 16 hits over a combined 9 2/3 innings of work.

Rookie Jake Arrieta gets the call for the Orioles tonight and will be out to improve upon a pair of shaky starts to begin the second half. The highly- regarded righty surrendered five runs in a 5 1/3-inning no-decision against Tampa Bay on July 20, then followed up by permitting five runs and walking four batters while lasting only four frames in Sunday's 10-4 loss to Minnesota.

Both of those outings took place at home, so perhaps leaving the hitter- friendly confines of Camden Yards will work to Arrieta's benefit. He's done well in limited action on the road, having compiled a 2-1 record and a 3.18 earned run average in four away assignments.

In nine overall starts since being promoted from the minors in June, Arrieta has gone 3-3 with a 5.40 ERA.

These teams split a pair of meetings in Baltimore back in May, as well as a four-game series held at Kauffman Stadium last season.

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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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