Bartlett's hit in 10th lifts Rays over Tribe

Baseball Betting Lines

07/11/2010 - St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Bartlett drove in the game-winner in the 10th inning as the Tampa Bay Rays took a 6-5 win over the Cleveland Indians in the finale of a four-game set.

With men on first and second and Kerry Wood (1-4) on the mound, Bartlett roped a pitch into the gap in right-center and it dropped, allowing Carl Crawford to cross the plate for the win.

Tampa closed out the first half of the season with a mark of 54-34 and the team currently sits in second place in the AL East, 1 1/2 games back of the Yankees.

Crawford went 2-for-5 with a two-run home run and three runs scored while B.J. Upton and Reid Brignac each drove in a run for the Rays, who have won eight of nine.

Jeff Niemann went five innings in the start and gave up three runs on six hits with four strikeouts. Andy Sonnanstine (2-0) got the win for throwing a perfect 10th inning.

Austin Kearns drove in a pair of runs while Trevor Crowe added two hits and an RBI for the Indians, who have lost five of their last six. Justin Masterson lasted five innings and was charged with five runs on eight hits with three walks and two strikeouts.

Cleveland sits at the bottom of the AL Central with a mark of 34-54.

The Indians jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. With one out, Jayson Nix was hit by a pitch and Carlos Santana followed with a double. Kearns chased them both home with a single and Matt LaPorta followed with an RBI double.

The Rays got a run back in the first. With runners at the corners, Carlos Pena hit a grounder back to the mound and Masterson caught Crawford off of third. In the rundown with Crawford heading to home, Andy Marte short-hopped the ball to Chris Gimenez and Crawford was able to get around the catcher to score. Matt Joyce walked to load the bases, but John Jaso hit into a double play to end the inning.

Tampa got another run back in the fourth when Upton hit a two-out double and came home when Brignac followed with a single.

The Rays then surged ahead in the fifth. Ben Zobrist led off with a walk and Crawford followed by drilling a 1-1 pitch into the seats in right. Later with the bases loaded, Upton lofted a sac fly to right that scored Evan Longoria for a 5-3 lead.

Cleveland, though, tied the game in the sixth. With two on and no out, Crowe singled home a run and a bunt single from Gimenez loaded the bases. Anderson Hernandez then hit into a double play that tied the game.

Game Notes

Tampa has taken five of six from Cleveland this season...Tampa left 15 men on base in the game...After the break, Cleveland hosts Detroit for four games starting on Friday...Tampa begins a three-game set in New York against the Yankees starting on Friday.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

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