Astros visit Pirates in battle of Central doormats

Baseball Betting Lines

07/16/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of the have-nots in the National League's Central Division get together tonight when the fifth-place Houston Astros visit the sixth-place Pittsburgh Pirates in the opener of a three-game weekend series at PNC Park.

The Astros and Pirates, who finished fifth and sixth, respectively, last season, are already all but out of contention in the division at the season's unofficial midway point. Houston trails the first-place Cincinnati Reds by 12 1/2 games, while the Pirates are 18 games back and in possession of the worst record in the NL at 30-58.

Hard-throwing right-hander Brett Myers takes the mound for the Astros with the hope of repeating a strong outing in his last start before the All-Star break, when he allowed just four hits and a run in eight innings of a 4-1 win over St. Louis last Saturday. The win leveled Myers at 6-6 in his initial year with Houston after he'd spent his entire professional career with the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Jacksonville, Fla. native is 4-4 lifetime against the Pirates, including a 10-3 win in an April 25 start in Texas. In that game, Myers allowed 11 hits and two runs in six innings en route to his first win of 2010.

Pittsburgh counters with 27-year-old lefty Zach Duke, who makes his first appearance since a stint on the 15-day disabled list with a strained elbow.

The former 20th-round draft pick (2001) had lost four straight starts before the injury, including a 7-2 interleague defeat against the Chicago White Sox on June 16 in Pittsburgh. In that game Duke was touched for eight hits and five runs, and in the four losses he allowed 38 hits and 21 runs in a combined 22 innings.

The Clifton, Texas native is 2-4 lifetime against the Astros with a 3.25 earned run average in 61 innings.

Pittsburgh entered the break on a six-game skid and lost a 6-5 heartbreaker to Milwaukee on Sunday, with the Brewers' Corey Hart clubbing a game-winning two- run homer in the ninth inning.

After Andrew McCutchen's sacrifice fly scored Ronny Cedeno to give Pittsburgh a 5-4 lead in the top of the ninth, Milwaukee's Jim Edmonds led off the bottom half with a ground-rule double off Pirates closer Octavio Dotel (2-2).

Two batters later, Hart crushed a 1-0 slider over the wall in left for his 21st home run of the season, finishing off a sweep that featured three one-run victories for the hosts.

Lastings Milledge went 2-for-3 with a solo homer for Pittsburgh (30-58), while Dotel suffered his second blown save of the series and fifth of the season.

Houston was also last in action on Sunday, when the team dropped a 4-2 decision to St. Louis in the rubber match of a three-game series.

Matt Holliday had a three-run homer for the Cardinals, one of four hits given up by Houston's Wandy Rodriguez (6-11), who fanned six through six innings.

The Astros have dominated the season series between these teams, winning all six meetings with Pittsburgh thus far in 2010. This will be Houston's first trip to the Steel City, where the club won four of six from the Pirates last year, of the 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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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com

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