Roberts, Orioles top Yanks to start series in Bronx

Baseball Betting Lines

09/06/2010 - Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Roberts' seventh inning single drove in the winning run as Baltimore downed New York, 4-3, in the opener of a three-game set.

Roberts finished 3-for-5 with two RBI while Matt Wieters knocked in a run and walked twice for the Orioles, who won their third straight in manager Buck Showalter's return to the Bronx.

Brian Matusz (8-12) picked up the win after allowing three runs on five hits with a pair of walks and four strikeouts over six innings, and Koji Uehara sewed up the victory by retiring the side in order in the ninth to earn his seventh save for the Birds, who have won three straight against the top two teams in the division.

A.J. Burnett (10-13) was tagged with the loss after yielding all four runs on seven hits and four walks while fanning five over seven innings for New York, which saw its lead trimmed to two games in the AL East over Tampa Bay, which plays later this evening at Boston.

Alex Rodriguez hit a solo home run in defeat for New York, his first since coming off the disabled list Sunday and the 605th of his career.

After the Yankees had scored twice in the home sixth to tie the game at three, the visitors produced the decisive run in the next half inning.

Corey Patterson led off with a single, moved to second base on a Cesar Izturis sacrifice bunt and scored on Roberts' single to right.

Josh Bell doubled to open the third, advanced on a Roberts single and scored the game's first run when Felix Pie grounded into a 3-6-3 double play.

Rodriguez's long ball to left with two outs in the fourth tied the game.

The visitors regained the lead in the fifth when Izturis doubled with one out and scored on a two-out single by Roberts, who was thrown out at second base to end the inning.

Pie singled to start the six and then advanced to third after a Nick Markakis walk and a wild pitch before coming into score on a Wieters sacrifice fly to make it a 3-1 game.

Nick Swisher opened the home half of the inning with a walk that was followed by a Mark Teixeira single. The runners advanced on a wild pitch, and Swisher came home on a Rodriguez sacrifice fly before Robinson Cano's single fell in between the shortstop Izturis and left fielder Pie to chase home Teixeira.

Game Notes

Sunday marked the 15th anniversary of former Baltimore shortstop/third baseman Cal Ripken, Jr. breaking Lou Gehrig's historic consecutive games played mark. On September 6 the following year, Eddie Murray belted the 500th home run of his Hall of Fame career in his return to Baltimore off Detroit's Felipe Lira. Matusz improved to 2-3 in five career turns against New York with both of his wins coming at Yankee Stadium...Roberts has hit safely in six straight games. Weiters had a seven-game hit streak snapped, while Markakis went 1-for-3 and has hit safely in 14 of his last 15 games...The Yankees lead the season series, 10-3, including a 6-1 record at home...Burnett has allowed the first run of the game in 18 of his 28 starts. He is 2-2 against the Birds this year and 11-4 in 17 career starts...New York's Brett Gardner had a streak of drawing a walk in 10 straight games snapped...The Yankees concluded a stretch of five straight home day games which they had played since April 8-14, 2004 against the White Sox and Tampa Bay.

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.