White Sox put home streak on line against Mariners

Baseball Betting Lines

07/27/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox shoot for their ninth straight home win this evening, when they continue their four-game series against the Seattle Mariners at U.S. Cellular Field,

After a 4-6 road trip, Chicago returned to the Windy City for the start of a seven-game homestand and got a terrific pitching performance from John Danks. The left-hander tossed eight innings of one-run ball and Juan Pierre went 3- for-5 with a run scored and two RBI, leading the White Sox to a 6-1 win.

Danks (11-7) scattered six hits and a walk to win his fourth consecutive start.

"He has a huge heart. Every time he's out there he fights every pitch," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said of Danks. "Even when he doesn't have the best stuff, he fights."

Paul Konerko added a solo home run and Alexi Ramirez had three hits, scored a run and drove in another in the victory, Chicago's sixth in seven games against the Mariners this season.

Seattle's Felix Hernandez (7-7) was touched for four runs on nine hits and three walks over seven frames, the ninth straight outing the right-handed ace has lasted at least that long for the Mariners, who were looking for their first three-game winning streak this month.

"My sinker was pretty good, but the strikeout pitch was not," said Hernandez, who finished with a season-low tying three punchouts.

Getting the call for the White Sox tonight will be right-hander Gavin Floyd, who is 5-8 with a 3.87 earned run average. Floyd did not get a decision on Wednesday against the Mariners, but was terrific in scattering five hits over seven scoreless innings of his team's 2-1 loss.

Since getting hammered for six runs in just 2 2/3 innings by the Texas Rangers on June 2, Floyd has surrendered one earned run or less in eight of his last nine starts, but is just 3-2 in that stretch.

Floyd is 1-4 lifetime against the Mariners with a 6.25 ERA in 10 games, eight of which have been starts.

Seattle, meanwhile, will counter with left-hander Ryan Rowland-Smith, who is 1-9 with a 6.26 ERA on the year. Rowland Smith did not get a decision on Thursday against Boston, as he surrendered five runs and eight hits in six innings of an 8-6 loss.

The Mariners are just 3-15 in Rowland-Smith's 18 starts and have dropped all five of his July outings.

Rowland-Smith is 1-0 with a 2.63 ERA in three games (two starts) against the White Sox.

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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.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.