White Sox' Buehrle tries to end longtime woes against A's

Baseball Betting Lines

07/23/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Though they still own the best record in baseball since June 9, the Chicago White Sox have hit a bit of a rough patch of their last few games. The timing couldn't be worse for starter Mark Buehrle, who has yet to taste success in Oakland.

Buehrle aims for his first ever victory at the Coliseum tonight as Chicago visits the Athletics for the opener of a three-game series.

The White Sox are an MLB-best 28-9 since June 9, turning a 9 1/2-game deficit for first place in the American League Central into a two-game edge over the Tigers and Twins.

However, Chicago has lost four of six since winning nine straight and 22 of 26, and failed to secure a three-game sweep of Seattle thanks to Wednesday's extra-inning loss. The White Sox broke a scoreless game with Omar Vizquel's RBI two-out single in the top of the 11th inning, but closer Bobby Jenks surrendered a two-run single to Franklin Gutierrez in the home portion of the frame.

"That was good baseball. Unfortunately, we finished like that," said Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen, whose club allowed just three runs in the series.

White Sox starter Gavin Floyd yielded just five hits and struck out six over seven scoreless innings in the no-decision.

The White Sox would love for Buehrle to duplicate that performance tonight, but the left-hander is 0-6 with a 4.66 earned run average in 12 career outings -- including 10 starts -- at Oakland Coliseum. Buehrle has also lost his last four decisions versus the Athletics since his last win over the club on May 24, 2006, In 24 career games versus the A's, all but four of those starts, he is just 3-12 with a 3.93 ERA.

The 31-year-old is 8-8 with a 4.18 ERA this season and won five of six starts before the All-Star break. He suffered a loss to the Twins on Saturday, though, allowing three runs on nine hits over a season high-tying eight innings. It marked Buehrle's seventh straight start of allowing three runs or fewer.

Buehrle is catching an Oakland club that has won seven of its last eight contests, including Wednesday's 6-4 victory over Boston in the rubber match of a three-game series.

Jack Cust and Matt Watson both homered in the win, with Watson hitting the first homer of his career. Rajai Davis had two RBI and Gio Gonzalez threw six innings of four-run ball for Oakland.

"It's really encouraging. That's still a good [Red Sox] team over there although they've had some injuries," Cust said. "We've faced some good pitching and that lineup has quality at-bats. We're just going to try and build off this and face the next series."

Oakland will try to do that behind the rolling Trevor Cahill, who has won eight of his last nine decisions and owns just one loss over his last 12 starts, with the A's going 10-2 in that span.

Cahill is 9-3 with a 3.19 ERA on the season and lost to the Yankees on July 6 after giving up six runs over six innings, but he rebounded to best the Angels five days later by allowing just one unearned run over seven frames. The 22- year-old righty then earned a no-decision at Kansas City on Saturday, getting drilled for five runs -- all in the second inning -- on five hits and four walks over 6 2/3 innings of a 6-5 Oakland win.

Cahill is 5-1 with a 2.14 ERA in seven home starts this year and owns a career 4.30 ERA versus the White Sox without a decision in three starts.

These two clubs are meeting for the first time since the A's took five of the nine matchups a season ago. Oakland did lose two of three to Chicago at home, though.

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Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament odds  
As of February 9, MySportsbook.com has released its coveted 2007 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament betting odds. “March Madness betting ” only a month away, the top ranked Florida Gators are favorite at 7-2 to win it all. The defending champs have not disappointed at all this season and currently have a 22-2 record and are undefeated (9-0) in SEC play. The Gators’ thrive off of their extremely balanced, experienced and versatile attack. All five starters started in last seasons National Championship game. What is most impressive with this group is their balance; the five starters all average between 10.7 and 13.6 PPG. The Gators have been on an absolute roll having won 15 straight by an average of 16.4 PPG.

Right behind the Gators are the 5th ranked UNC Tar Heels at 9-2. The Heels (21-3, 7-2) are absolutely loaded with top notch talent and are as deep as any team in the country. A concern for the Tar Heels might be inexperience. Of their top four scorers/ minute earners, three are freshmen and the other is a sophomore. The rest of the regular season, the Tar Heels play only one team that is currently ranked (Duke). Their remaining opponents do combine for an impressive 107-58 record though.

Other teams that the MySportsbook.com members seem to believe will win it all include the west coasts’ top team #2 UCLA (6-1), #3 OSU behind man-child Greg Oden (8-1), and #4 Wisconsin (10-1) behind their defense which has given up 70+ points only three times all season.

Below is a list of some of the favorites to win the 2007 Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship lines. For the full list of teams and March Madness odds be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com. If you want to use your credit card to bet on college hoops or any other event, MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

Arizona 20-1

Butler 20-1

Duke 30-1

Florida 7-2

Georgetown 30-1

Indiana 35-1

Kansas 15-1

Marquette 25-1

Maryland 40-1

Memphis 50-1

Nevada 50-1

UNC 9-2

OSU 8-1

Oregon 30-1

Pittsburgh 15-1

Texas 30-1

Texas A&M 18-1

UCLA 6-1

Wisconsin 10-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook betting needs.

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.