Longoria sparkles as Rays down Twins

Baseball Betting Lines

07/04/2010 - Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Evan Longoria went 3-for-5 with three runs batted in and finished a home run shy of the cycle, as the Tampa Bay Rays downed the Minnesota Twins, 7-4, in the finale of a four-game set at Target Field.

Sean Rodriguez turned in a three-hit game with a solo homer and Gabe Kapler added a two-run pinch-hit double for Tampa Bay, which took three games in the series and have won four of five overall.

James Shields (7-8) earned the win after allowing four runs on eight hits and one walk with two strikeouts. The right-hander had dropped seven of his previous eight starts coming in.

Jim Thome had a two-run single and Justin Morneau went 2-for-4 with an RBI double and a run scored for the Twins, who have split their last six contests.

Nick Blackburn (7-6) was tagged with the loss for surrendering nine hits and seven runs -- four earned -- while walking two and fanning three over 6 1/3 innings.

Longoria's triple to right in the first scored Rodriguez, who led off the inning with a single, to give the Rays the early lead.

Minnesota answered with a run in the home half as Joe Mauer reached with a two-out single and came around to score on Morneau's double to tie things.

Rodriguez then put the Rays back in front with a leadoff homer to right in the third and they would tack on five more in the seventh to go ahead 7-1.

The first two batters singled to put runners on first and second before Blackburn's throwing error on Jason Bartlett's sacrifice bunt allowed a run to score. After Rodriguez grounded out, Carl Crawford was walked intentionally to load the bases. Longoria's single to center brought in two more and signaled the end of the afternoon for Blackburn.

Brian Duensing took over and struck out Willy Aybar then gave up a two-run double to Kapler.

The Twins were able to get back three in the home seventh to cut the deficit to 7-4. Minnesota quickly loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a walk before Thome singled off the right-field wall that plated two. Grant Balfour replaced Shields and served up a run-scoring single to Delmon Young, but settled down to retire the next three hitters to limit the damage.

Randy Choate pitched a perfect eighth and Soriano closed the game out after giving up one hit in the ninth.

Game Notes

Both clubs will be well represented at this year's All-Star Game in Anaheim as Twins catcher Mauer was the top vote-getter overall and Morneau was selected as the starting first baseman...Rays outfielder Crawford and third baseman Longoria were voted in to start in the Midsummer Classic and they'll be joined by pitcher David Price...Shields improved to 3-1 in seven career starts against the Twins...Blackburn dropped to 5-1 in eight starts at Target Field this season.

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting - Super Bowl 2009

Super Bowl 2009, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Let’s take a look at the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds and the betting line and figure out where they’ve been and where they are going to go.

MySportsbook.com put up the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds late on Sunday night with the Pittsburgh Steelers favored by 6.5 points and a total betting line at 47.5 points.

Since then, however, the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds have seen a good deal of movement and you’ll want to be on top of where they are likely to move to make sure you get the best line value for the big game.

Since opening, the Super Bowl 2009 betting lines went to Steelers -7 in the span of roughly 3 hours but were quickly bought back down just minutes later to 6.5 again.

After that is took about 5-6 more hours before the betting line went back to -7 where it has sat for a while now and is likely to remain. The opening betting total of 47.5 was bet down right after the line became available and went to 47 within minutes.

Roughly a day later it has been bet even further down to the 46.5 tally it currently is set at.

Roughly 60% of gamblers seem to be on the Cardinals here so the point spread will be bet down and a 7.5 would not last very long at all with many taking the early 6.5 in hopes of finding a potential middle in the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds.

If you like Arizona and see a 7.5, I’d take it as soon as possible because it’s unlikely to last. For Pittsburgh backers, the -7 might be the best you’ll be able to find but a 6.5 is definitely possible close to game time.

Regarding the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds for the total, most tracked gamblers are already on the over and with those who took the under 47.5 already securing a middle on the over 46.5, the only way I see it moving is back up to 47 so if you like the over, I’d recommend betting now.

Get free Super Bowl XLIII Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online Super Bowl betting with credit cards

SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.