Sanchez, Giants rally past Diamondbacks

Baseball Betting Lines

08/29/2010 - San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Freddy Sanchez had three hits, knocked in two runs and scored a run to push San Francisco past Arizona, 9-7, in a back and forth affair in the last of a three-game set.

Andres Torres added two hits, two runs scored and drove in two while Jose Guillen's two-run single in the seventh put the Giants ahead to stay as they salvaged the last game of the series to halt a three-game slide.

Jeremy Affeldt (3-3) grabbed the win despite allowing a two-run double that gave Arizona the lead in the top of the seventh, and Brian Wilson recorded the last five outs to earn his 36th save for San Francisco, which moved to within five games of San Diego in the NL West and remained 1 1/2 games behind Wild Card leader Philadelphia.

Esmerling Vasquez (1-5) suffered the loss after yielding three runs -- two earned -- on three hits in his lone inning of work for the Diamondbacks, who had a three-game win streak snapped.

Gerardo Parra singled to start the Arizona seventh, and, after pinch-hitter Rusty Ryal struck out, Giants starting pitcher Matt Cain was lifted with a 5-2 lead in favor of Javier Lopez, who gave up a single to Stephen Drew and was replaced by Santiago Casilla.

The move did not work, as Justin Upton belted a double into centerfield to plate both runners and trim the deficit to a run. Upton moved to third on a wild pitch and stayed put after Kelly Johnson walked and Chris Young struck out.

Bruce Bochy turned to Jeremy Affeldt to face LaRoche, and again the percentage play did not pan out, as the left-swinger laced a double to right to chase home both runners to put the visitors in the lead at 6-5.

Vasquez assumed the hill for Arizona in the bottom of the frame and allowed a leadoff single to Sanchez that was followed by a Huff ground rule double that Parra lost in the sun. Guillen then singled into center to chase home both runners to put the Giants back on top at 7-6.

Nate Schierholtz came on as a pinch-runner and advanced to second on an errant pickoff attempt, to third on a Pablo Sandoval ground out and scored on a Cody Ross sacrifice fly to push the lead to two.

Parra legged out an infield single to start the eighth and advanced on a Ryan Roberts sacrifice bunt. Drew beat out an infield hit as Parra turned third and headed for the plate. He slid around the attempted tag of catcher Eli Whiteside and beat him back to the plate with a dive to slice the Giants' lead to 8-7.

Wilson then took over on the mound and gave up an infield hit to Upton before Johnson struck out and Young flied out to center to end the threat.

San Francisco added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth against Juan Gutierrez when Torres walked with two outs and scored on Sandoval's double to right.

Arizona, which struck for six runs in the first inning on Saturday, loaded the bases with one out in the first but Cain bulldogged his way out of the jam by striking out LaRoche and Mark Reynolds.

The visitors did break through two innings later on Drew's leadoff long ball to right.

San Francisco stormed back to grab their first lead of the series in the home half on a run-scoring double by Torres, an RBI single by Sanchez, a Huff fielder's choice grounder that plated Torres and a run-scoring double by Sandoval high off the brick wall in rightfield that brought Huff home to complete the four-run surge.

Eli Whiteside singled with one out in the fourth, moved to second on a Cain single and scored on a Torres base hit to make it a 5-1 contest.

Pinch-hitter Ryan Church struck out to begin the fifth but reached first base on a Cain wild pitch. The right-hander then uncorked two more wild offerings that advanced Church to third, from where he scored on a Drew ground out to cut the deficit to 5-2.

Game Notes

Cain allowed three runs on six hits with a walk and seven strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings...The right-hander had his run of 19 shutout innings against the D'Backs this season snapped in the third inning...Cain is 6-1 in his last 10 home turns and 7-3 in 14 home starts this season...Ross went 0-for-3 and lost an eight-game hitting streak, while Sanchez has hit safely in six straight and is 15-for-24...Giants outfielder Aaron Rowand turned 33 Sunday...Arizona starter Rodrigo Lopez lasted just four frames, giving up five runs on eight hits while walking one and striking out three...LaRoche's two RBI gave him 87, which tied the franchise single-season record for a first baseman, set by Tony Clark in 2005...Arizona is 14-13 with two games left in August, as it tries to secure its first winning month since August of last season.

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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.