Kershaw pitches Dodgers past Rockies

Baseball Betting Lines

08/18/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Clayton Kershaw pitched seven scoreless innings to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-0 win over the Colorado Rockies in the opener of a three-game series.

Kershaw (11-7) allowed five hits and recorded six strikeouts for the Dodgers, who halted a two-game skid and won for only the second time in their last seven games overall.

Scott Podsednik and James Loney both drove in two runs. The Dodgers are seven games behind the Phillies in the NL wild card race.

Rockies starting pitcher Jhoulys Chacin (5-9) was recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs earlier Tuesday and allowed five runs on five hits with four strikeouts and five walks over five innings of work.

Eric Young and Dexter Fowler had two hits for the inconsistent Rockies, who have alternated wins and losses throughout the month of August thus far.

Colorado is now six games off the pace in the wild card chase.

The Dodgers had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the fourth, but Casey Blake struck out and Matt Kemp flied out to center field to end the inning.

In the home fifth, LA opened the scoring. Jamey Carroll drew a leadoff walk and moved to third when A.J. Ellis singled. After Kershaw's bunt advanced Ellis to second base, Podsednik doubled to deep left field for a 2-0 lead. Andre Ethier walked with two outs before Loney ripped another two-run double, this one to right-center field. Blake's run-scoring single made it 5-0.

Kershaw pitched a 1-2-3 sixth and worked a scoreless seventh before Kenley Jansen started on the mound in the eighth for the Dodgers. Jansen and southpaw George Sherrill combined to keep the Rockies off the scoreboard.

LA added a run in the bottom of the eighth. With the bases loaded, Rockies reliever Randy Flores picked up a grounder hit back to the mound by Ronnie Belliard, but his throwing error allowed Blake to cross the plate.

Jonathan Broxton pitched the ninth for LA.

Game Notes

Kershaw improved to 5-3 in 11 career starts against the Rockies. He has also pitched 26 straight scoreless innings at home against Colorado...The Dodgers improved to 37-24 at Chavez Ravine this season...Loney has 72 RBI this season...The Rockies went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base.

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Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

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.

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