Howard and Phils double up Rockies

Baseball Betting Lines

04/11/2009 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Howard had a pair of hits and three runs batted in, as the Phillies used some timely hitting and strong pitching to defeat the Colorado Rockies, 8-4, at Coors Field.

Seven of Philadelphia's runs came with two outs, as the Phillies won for the second time in three games. Brett Myers (1-1) became the first starter on the team to earn a win and improved to 7-0 lifetime against the Rockies, as he threw seven strong innings, allowing four runs on four hits and a walk, with six strikeouts.

Shane Victorino went 3-for-5 and scored twice, while Jayson Werth added a two- RBI triple. Chase Utley had two hits and scored twice, while Pedro Feliz also added three hits.

The Rockies managed only four hits in the game, with three being home runs from Clint Barmes, Troy Tulowitzki and Garrett Atkins, respectively. Brad Hawpe doubled to account for the other base hit, while Jorge De La Rosa (0-1) gave up five runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three in 4 2/3 innings.

Colorado had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Back-to-back two-out singles by Utley and Howard in the fifth put runners on the corners for Werth and knocked De La Rosa out of the game. Ryan Speier came in to face Werth, who tripled down the right field line to score both runners and put the Phillies ahead, 5-3.

Barmes immediately cut the Rockies' deficit in half, leading off the home fifth with a homer off Myers.

In the sixth, against Colorado reliever Jason Hammel, Feliz singled to lead off and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Myers. Jimmy Rollins and Victorino each worked two-out walks to load the bases for Utley, who grounded out to Hammel to end the threat.

Raul Ibanez blasted a two-out solo homer in the seventh to make it 6-4 in favor of the visitors. Utley blooped a two-out RBI single in the eighth to score Victorino, who had doubled.

Ibanez led the ninth off against Huston Street with a double and scored on an RBI single from Feliz to account for the final margin.

Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge contributed one perfect inning of relief apiece to close out the game.

Colorado jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second, as Hawpe hit a one-out double and Tulowitzki drilled a two-run homer to center.

Rollins and Victorino both hit two-out singles in the third, and Utley worked a five-pitch walk to load the bases. Howard came up and promptly drilled the first pitch to the wall in the left-center field gap, scoring all three runs.

Atkins hit a one-out homer in the fourth, his second in two games, to tie the game at 3-3.

Game Notes

Clay Condrey is the other Phillies pitcher who has won a game this season...Philadelphia has won seven of eight against the Rockies...The Phillies placed catcher Carlos Ruiz on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right oblique muscle and recalled catcher Lou Marson from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to fill the roster spot...Colorado left just one runner on base, while the Phillies stranded 12...Ibanez finished 2-for-5 with a homer, a double and two runs scored.

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NFL ODDSTop Football Betting Free Agents to Change Teams

NFL Betting

It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.

We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.

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NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.

The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

NFL Wagering

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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