09/28/2008 - Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vernon Wells went 4-for-4, homered twice and drove in five runs, and the Toronto Blue Jays pounded the Baltimore Orioles, 10-1, in the regular-season finale for both clubs.
Lyle Overbay also homered for the Blue Jays (86-76), who finished with a 51-37 mark under Cito Gaston, the former Toronto manager who replaced John Gibbons. Gibbons was fired on June 20 after a 35-39 start by Toronto.
"It was nice to finish with a win today and go ten games over .500," said Gaston, who signed a contract extension last week that runs through 2010. "That was a goal I set at one time and we did get there. Hopefully, next year we will be heading to a playoff game. The guys played hard and finished up good."
Jesse Litsch (13-9) held the Orioles to one run on three hits in seven innings with five strikeouts and a walk to finish the season with a win for the Blue Jays, who took two of three games in this rain-sogged series. Both the Friday and Saturday games were stopped after seven innings because of rain.
Nick Markakis went 3-for-4 for the Orioles (68-93), who lost 11 of 12 to finish with 93 losses for the second straight year. Baltimore has lost 90-plus games in three straight years and six of eight, and hasn't had a winning campaign since 1997, when it went 98-64 and won the AL East.
Jeremy Guthrie (10-12) gave up three runs on six hits in four frames to take the loss for Baltimore.
Wells led off the second with a homer to left, giving Toronto the early lead, and the Blue Jays never looked back. Wells singled in a run in the third, and Overbay's leadoff homer in the fourth, his 15th, gave the Blue Jays a 3-0 lead.
Wells belted a three-run shot to left with two outs in the fifth, his 20th, and Toronto took a 6-0 edge.
"When you get runs on the board you get confidence and it makes it a lot easier to go out there and pitch," said Litsch.
Travis Snider's sacrifice fly made it a 7-0 lead in the sixth. Melvin Mora finally got the O's on the board in the home half of the frame with an RBI double.
The Blue Jays added three runs in the eighth on RBI singles by Marco Scutaro, pinch-hitter Brad Wilkerson, and pinch-hitter Kevin Mench.
Game Notes
Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts fouled a ball off his foot in the sixth, and was then hit by a pitch later in the at-bat. He left with a foot injury, and Alex Cintron came on as a pinch-runner...It was Wells' 18th career multi- homer game, and his 15th career four-hit game...The Orioles finished 4-21 on Sundays.
<< Rodriguez, Ausmus shine as Astros best Braves
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wandy Rodriguez threw seven strong innings as
the Houston Astros closed out the regular season with a 3-1 win over the
Atlanta Braves at Minute Maid Park.
Rodriguez (9-7) gave up just one unearned run o
<< Johnson, Chiefs run all over Broncos
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Larry Johnson had 198 yards on 28 carries
with two touchdowns as the Kansas City Chiefs shocked the Denver Broncos with
a 33-19 win at Arrowhead Stadium.
Damon Huard was a proficient 21-for-28 with 16
<< Saints take down 49ers behind Brees
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Drew Brees completed 23-of-35 passes for
363 yards and three touchdowns, and the New Orleans Saints routed the San
Francisco 49ers 31-17.
Lance Moore had seven catches for 101 yards and two touchdo
<< Ronaldinho gives Milan derby win
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ronaldinho scored the lone goal in his first
Milan derby as he helped AC Milan beat Inter Milan, 1-0 at the San Siro on
Sunday.
The Rossoneri has now won its last three Serie A contests following two los
Calvillo, Alouettes stomp Roughriders >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anthony Calvillo threw three touchdowns to
lead the Montreal Alouettes to a 37-12 thrashing of the Saskatchewan
Roughriders.
Calvillo completed 27-of-39 passes for 287 yards and one interception
Baker, Twins blank Royals to stay atop AL Central >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Baker combined with two relievers
on a five-hit shutout, as Minnesota creeped closer to their fifth AL Central
title in the last seven years with a 6-0 win over Kansas City.
The Twins continue
Hoops dominated D.C. United at Pizza Hut Park >>
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FC Dallas got goals from Andre Rocha, Jeff
Cunningham and Kenny Cooper to dispose of visiting D.C. United, 3-0, at
Pizza Hut Park in Major League Soccer action on Sunday afternoon.
With the win, t
Hoops dominate D.C. United at Pizza Hut Park >>
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FC Dallas got goals from Andre Rocha, Jeff
Cunningham and Kenny Cooper to dispose of visiting D.C. United, 3-0, at
Pizza Hut Park in Major League Soccer action on Sunday afternoon.
With the win, t
Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.
“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.
“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).
Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.
Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.
The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.
Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game
Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.
Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.
Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”
To visit this internet sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your sports betting needs and World Series odds.
MySportsbook.com Posts Heisman Trophy Odds
With 3,919 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and a mere seven interceptions last season, combined with a powerful South Bend Heisman legacy, odds makers at MySportsbook.com have given Notre Dame senior quarterback Brady Quinn the best Heisman Trophy odds at 5-2.
Quinn isn’t the only big man on campus this season. Oklahoma junior running back and 2004 Heisman runner-up Adrian Peterson, listed at 7-2, rushed for a combined 3,033 yards in his first two years as a college player and will give Quinn a run for his money.
This online sportsbook has also listed Troy Smith, Ohio State senior quarterback, as another strong favorite to win the 72nd Heisman Trophy. A 7-1 bet, Smith threw for 2,282 yards last season and also led the Buckeyes to a convincing 34-20 victory over Quinn and the Fighting Irish in last season’s Fiesta Bowl.
Current betting odds Heisman trophy are:
| Brady Quinn (QB, Notre Dame) Adrian Peterson (RB, Oklahoma) Troy Smith (QB, Ohio State) Michael Bush (RB, Louisville) Steve Slaton (RB, West Virginia) Brian Brohm (QB, Louisville) Chris Leak (QB, Florida) Mike Hart (RB, Michigan) Ted Ginn (WR, Ohio State) Darius Walker (RB, Notre Dame) Drew Tate (QB, Iowa) Marshawn Lynch (RB, Cal) Kenny Irons (RB, Auburn) Chad Henne (QB, Michigan) Kyle Wright (QB, Miami) Drew Stanton (QB, Michigan State) Kenneth Darby (RB, Alabama) JaMarcus Russell (QB, LSU) Drew Weatherford (QB, Florida State) Blake Mitchell (QB, South Carolina) Reggie Ball (QB, Georgia Tech) |
5-2 7-2 7-1 10-1 10-1 12-1 12-1 18-1 18-1 20-1 30-1 35-1 35-1 40-1 50-1 50-1 60-1 60-1 60-1 60-1 60-1 |
For complete NCAA Football odds visit MySportsbook.com.
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