Howard and Phils double up Rockies

Baseball Betting Lines

04/11/2009 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Howard had a pair of hits and three runs batted in, as the Phillies used some timely hitting and strong pitching to defeat the Colorado Rockies, 8-4, at Coors Field.

Seven of Philadelphia's runs came with two outs, as the Phillies won for the second time in three games. Brett Myers (1-1) became the first starter on the team to earn a win and improved to 7-0 lifetime against the Rockies, as he threw seven strong innings, allowing four runs on four hits and a walk, with six strikeouts.

Shane Victorino went 3-for-5 and scored twice, while Jayson Werth added a two- RBI triple. Chase Utley had two hits and scored twice, while Pedro Feliz also added three hits.

The Rockies managed only four hits in the game, with three being home runs from Clint Barmes, Troy Tulowitzki and Garrett Atkins, respectively. Brad Hawpe doubled to account for the other base hit, while Jorge De La Rosa (0-1) gave up five runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three in 4 2/3 innings.

Colorado had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Back-to-back two-out singles by Utley and Howard in the fifth put runners on the corners for Werth and knocked De La Rosa out of the game. Ryan Speier came in to face Werth, who tripled down the right field line to score both runners and put the Phillies ahead, 5-3.

Barmes immediately cut the Rockies' deficit in half, leading off the home fifth with a homer off Myers.

In the sixth, against Colorado reliever Jason Hammel, Feliz singled to lead off and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Myers. Jimmy Rollins and Victorino each worked two-out walks to load the bases for Utley, who grounded out to Hammel to end the threat.

Raul Ibanez blasted a two-out solo homer in the seventh to make it 6-4 in favor of the visitors. Utley blooped a two-out RBI single in the eighth to score Victorino, who had doubled.

Ibanez led the ninth off against Huston Street with a double and scored on an RBI single from Feliz to account for the final margin.

Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge contributed one perfect inning of relief apiece to close out the game.

Colorado jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second, as Hawpe hit a one-out double and Tulowitzki drilled a two-run homer to center.

Rollins and Victorino both hit two-out singles in the third, and Utley worked a five-pitch walk to load the bases. Howard came up and promptly drilled the first pitch to the wall in the left-center field gap, scoring all three runs.

Atkins hit a one-out homer in the fourth, his second in two games, to tie the game at 3-3.

Game Notes

Clay Condrey is the other Phillies pitcher who has won a game this season...Philadelphia has won seven of eight against the Rockies...The Phillies placed catcher Carlos Ruiz on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right oblique muscle and recalled catcher Lou Marson from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to fill the roster spot...Colorado left just one runner on base, while the Phillies stranded 12...Ibanez finished 2-for-5 with a homer, a double and two runs scored.

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Sportsbooks to bet on football

Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.

He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.

"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.

He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.

Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.

Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.

Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.

Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.

With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.

Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).

And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)

The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.

While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.

Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.

One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.

Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.

What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.

That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.

MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.

"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.

"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."

So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.

In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.

MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.

The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.

Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.

MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.

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