Dodgers hold on to beat Brewers

Baseball Betting Lines

08/25/2010 - Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Loney drove in two runs and the Los Angeles Dodgers took a 5-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in the second of a three-game series.

Andre Ethier hit a solo home run while Matt Kemp drove in one for the Dodgers, who have won three of their last four. Hiroki Kuroda (9-11) went seven innings in the win as he was charged with four runs on seven hits with six strikeouts.

"It was a good game, we played well and we were spirited," said Dodgers manager Joe Torre. "We just need to keep playing well and get on a winning streak."

The big news for Los Angeles came before the game as the Los Angeles Times reported that the team placed outfielder Manny Ramirez on waivers. He is in the final season of a two-year contract with a salary of $20 million this season. He went 2-for-2 in the game with two doubles, two walks, an RBI and a run scored.

Corey Hart, Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and Casey McGehee each drove in a run for the Brewers, who have dropped three straight. Randy Wolf (10-10) went five innings in the start and was charged with four runs on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

"We went out there and lost a two-run lead," said Milwaukee manager Ken Macha. "Loney got a hold of a good pitch and they have a great bullpen there that just shut us down."

The Dodgers drew first blood when Ethier hit a one-out, solo homer to right- center in the third.

The Brewers, though, surged ahead in the fourth. Rickie Weeks led off with a single and came home when Hart followed with a double. Braun's two-bagger scored Hart and a sacrifice fly from McGehee later in the inning made it a 3-1 game.

Los Angeles answered with three of its own in the fifth to go back in front. With men on first and third and one out, Kemp scored Ryan Theriot with a sacrifice fly. Casey Blake followed with a double and Loney's single to left plated both baserunners for a 4-3 lead.

The Dodgers made it a 5-3 game in the sixth as Ramirez's double scored Theriot, who had reached base on a double earlier in the frame.

Milwaukee got the run back in the bottom of the inning, though, as Fielder's single to left scored Weeks, who led off with a single and stole second before heading to third on a groundout from Braun.

Kuroda put the Brewers down in order in the seventh while Jonathan Broxton did the same in the eighth.

Ronald Belisario, George Sherrill and Octavio Dotel each retired a batter in the ninth, with Dotel getting his 22nd save of the season.

Game Notes

Kuroda had been 0-3 in his previous five starts and improved to 2-0 in three games against Milwaukee...Los Angeles has taken three of five from Milwaukee this season...Wolf had won his previous three starts and fell to 3-3 in 10 encounters with Los Angeles.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

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

MySportsbook.com favors Bears, Bengals, Chargers and Colts to remain perfect

LAS VEGAS , Sept. 28 - Two big match-ups of undefeated teams have fans salivating at the Week Four schedule in the NFL. The Chicago Bears stifling defense looks to provide a less than hospitable welcome to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in a battle of two 3-0 teams in the NFC conference. In the AFC, the San Diego Chargers (2-0) head to Maryland to face the surprising Baltimore Ravens (3-0) as both try to keep pace atop the conference standings. Betting Lines makers at MySportsbook.com, online sportsbook and casino, have set the Bears as 3.5 point favorites while the Chargers are a 2.5 point bet.

Of the three remaining undefeated teams, only one, New Orleans, enters this week's game as an underdog. Despite an emotional and resounding win over Atlanta on Monday night, the Saints are a 7.5 point underdog against the struggling Carolina Panthers. Indianapolis looks to stay perfect when they face the New York Jets as a 9 point road favorite while the Cincinnati Bengals are a 6 point favorite at home to the New England Patriots.

Six teams enter the week still looking for their first win, with a seventh, Tampa Bay, on a bye week. The prospect of dropping another game would not bode well for a potential playoff run. Since 1990, just three teams -- the 1992 Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions and 1998 Buffalo Bills -- have overcome losing their first three games of the season to earn a postseason berth. And only the Chargers managed to accomplish the feat after starting 0-4.

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