With Lee deal complete, Mariners continue set with Yanks

Baseball Betting Lines

07/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A busy day for the Seattle Mariners concludes this evening with the second test of their four-game series with the New York Yankees at Safeco Field.

Seattle fans woke up this morning with rumors of left-hander Cliff Lee headed to the New York Yankees for a trio of prospects. However, that deal fell apart late in the day, as the Mariners had some reservations about the health of second baseman David Adams.

Shortly after the news of that broke, though, the Mariners shipped Lee and right-hander Mark Lowe to the Texas Rangers for four players, most notably first baseman Justin Smoak.

Lee, who had been scheduled to start tonight's contest, just had a streak of three consecutive nine-inning stints come to an end Sunday in an 8-1 win at Detroit. Lee put together eight innings of one-run ball in that one and struck out 11 batters to improve to 4-0 with a 1.29 earned run average in his last four starts. He had been 8-3 with a 2.34 ERA in 13 starts for the Mariners.

The Mariners could use anything right now to try and break out of their slump, as they have lost four straight and seven of their past eight games. In Thursday's 3-1 loss to the defending champion Yankees in the series opener, David Aardsma gave up a go-ahead two-run single to All-Star Alex Rodriguez in the top of the ninth inning and Yankees closer Mariano Rivera tossed a 1-2-3 bottom half to preserve the win. Aardsma is 0-6 on the season.

Jason Vargas started for the Mariners and held New York in check with seven innings of one-run ball and three K's. Ichiro Suzuki ended with a team-high two hits for Seattle, which is last in the AL West Division.

"I thought Vargas was real good when you think about who he was opposing," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. "I thought he pitched as well, if not better (than Yankees starter Andy Pettitte)."

Pettitte lasted eight innings and permitted only one run and five hits with nine strikeouts to push his 2010 record to 11-2. Rivera then notched his 20th save of the season and struck out a batter in the ninth.

"I felt good. I have been disappointed with my mechanics out of the windup the last two or three starts," Pettitte said. "I worked hard in between to get some stuff worked on in the bullpen and I was able to carry it into [Thursday]."

Nick Swisher continued to swing a hot bat for the Yankees and collected four hits and a run scored, while Rodriguez was the hero with the big hit in the ninth inning. Curtis Granderson contributed three hits in the win, New York's sixth in a row and seventh in its last eight tries.

The AL East-leading Yanks, who are two games ahead of Tampa Bay in the division standings, will send young fireballer Phil Hughes to the mound Friday night. Hughes is 10-2 in 15 starts this season but has struggled a bit in his last two outings, going 0-1 with an 8.49 earned run average. He had a five- start winning streak cut short on June 29 versus Seattle, as he gave up seven runs -- six earned -- and 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings of a 7-4 loss to Lee.

Hughes then took the mound in a 7-6 triumph versus Toronto on Sunday, but did not figure into the decision after surrendering five runs in six frames. The right-hander is 4-1 in six road starts in 2010 and 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA in five career games (two starts) against the Mariners.

With Lee gone, the Mariners will use a handful of pitchers tonight, starting with right-hander David Pauley, who has yet to allow a run in four innings out of the bullpen this season. He is 0-3 lifetime with a 8.35 ERA in 12 games, five of which have been starts.

Seattle took two of three matchups at Yankee Stadium from June 29-July 1 and has won five of the past eight meetings between the clubs.

Wwwohmygoodness Baseball Betting News

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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.

American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.