Conrad's late slam helps Braves cook Marlins
Baseball Betting Lines
07/25/2010 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brooks Conrad hit his second career grand slam during an eight-run eighth inning, as the Atlanta Braves rallied past the Florida Marlins, 10-5, in the second test of a three-game set between these two NL East rivals.
Martin Prado hit a solo homer for the Braves, who bounced back from a 7-6 loss in the opener of this series. Eric Hinske drove in two runs and scored once, while Jason Heyward had three hits and scored twice for the victors.
Jesse Chavez (2-1) tossed a perfect seventh to pick up the win.
Dan Uggla homered and knocked in three runs for the Marlins, who had a three- game winning streak snapped. Mike Stanton added a solo homer.
"It's not the first time [we blew a lead] and it won't be the last...It just so happens they stole one from us," Uggla said. "That's baseball."
Trailing 5-2, Atlanta exploded for eight runs in the eighth. Taylor Tankersley started the inning on the mound for Florida. Heyward singled, Chipper Jones reached first on Jorge Cantu's throwing error, and Brian McCann was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out.
Jhan Martinez (1-1) came in from the bullpen and walked Troy Glaus to force in a run. Hinske followed with a two-run single to right to tie the game. Burke Badenhop then took over for Martinez on the hill. Alex Gonzalez put down a bunt and catcher Ronny Paulino threw to third, but the runner was safe to load the bases. Two batters later, pinch-hitter Conrad drove the ball into the seats in right for a 9-5 lead.
"In those situations you have to be confident as a pinch hitter," Conrad said. "If you're hesitant, you're probably not going to get the job done."
Jones knocked in another run later in the inning when he grounded into a fielder's choice.
Florida stranded the bases loaded in the ninth.
Prado's homer to left in the top of the first gave Atlanta the early lead. However, Florida plated a run of its own in the home half to tie the game. Chris Coghlan was hit by a pitch and Gaby Sanchez singled to put men on the corners with nobody out. After Hanley Ramirez struck out, Uggla drove in a run when he grounded out.
McCann's RBI single in the top of the third gave the Braves a 2-1 edge.
The Marlins, though, responded with three runs in the bottom of the third to go in front by two. Coghlan hit a one-out single and came around to score on Sanchez's double down the left-field line. Two batters later, Uggla smacked Kris Medlen's offering into the seats in left for a 4-2 advantage.
Atlanta put runners on the corners in the fifth, but McCann grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Stanton's homer to right in the sixth made it a 5-2 game.
Game Notes
Atlanta has won five of its eight matchups with the Marlins this season...The Braves' eight runs in the eighth was a season-high for runs scored in an inning...Uggla's homer was the 139th of his career, which moved him into sole possession of second place on the team's all-time home run list. Mike Lowell is the franchise leader with 143...Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez was ejected in the top of the fifth for arguing balls and strikes...Heyward extended his hitting streak to eight games...Braves starter Medlen lasted six frames, allowing five runs on eight hits. He fanned a season-high eight batters and walked one...Florida starter Anibal Sanchez went six innings, giving up two runs on five hits. He struck out seven and walked three.
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Tigers place Ordonez, Guillen on disabled list >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers have placed outfielder
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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout
An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.
Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off. Randy was not impressed though. Paula thought he started off fantastic. "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either.
Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed. Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact. He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition.
Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula. Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.
Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next. Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential. Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell. He sang "Careless Whisper".
22 year old Chris Richardson was up next. He was listed with +1100 odds coming in. He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great.
Nick was boring and pitchy. Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week. Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition.
Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds . These of course were the early odds. He was considered original for picking an "odd song". He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night.
Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good.
Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds. Great voice and a great sense of humor. He's a real standout. Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit. Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig".
Jared Cotter followed. He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition. The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good.
22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next. "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon. Though the judges felt he performed okay. Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.
Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition. He was the last to perform. He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start.
Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys. Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.
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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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