Reds hand ball to rookie Leake vs. Nationals

Baseball Betting Lines

07/20/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Reds are going to be careful with how many innings rookie Mike Leake racks up this season. They might be tempted to take the leash off tonight given how well he pitched against the Nationals last time.

Leake will try to stretch his unbeaten streak to five straight starts this evening when Cincinnati continues a four-game series with Washington at Great American Ball Park.

The eighth overall pick of the 2009 draft, Leake skipped the minors and jumped right into the Reds' rotation this season, going 6-1 with a 3.53 earned run average over the first half while throwing 109 2/3 innings. That includes a victory against the Nationals on June 5 as he limited the club to just one unearned run on seven hits over seven innings, striking out five batters without a walk.

Though he hasn't lost since June 16, the 22-year-old righty is just 1-0 with a 5.13 ERA over his unbeaten run. Leake did not get a decision on July 9 versus the Phillies, hurling 8 1/3 innings while giving up five runs -- four in the ninth inning -- on nine hits.

The Reds have won three of four since the All-Star break and took last night's series opener, 7-2. Johnny Cueto allowed just two runs and four hits over six innings, winning his ninth game of the season while lowering his season ERA to 3.39. Cueto has allowed two runs or less in each of his last six starts.

"He's learning to back off the mound, take the ball out of the air some, regroup and get his composure back," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "He's learning and he's winning while he's learning."

Jonny Gomes and Miguel Cairo both connected on solo homers, with Gomes ending with three hits and three runs scored. Drew Stubbs added a two-run double for the Reds, who remained a half-game back of first-place St. Louis in the National League Central despite playing without Scott Rolen for a third straight game.

The All-Star third baseman had been battling the flu, but also revealed he has a right hamstring injury. He received a cortisone shot and could land on the disabled list.

Even without Rolen, the Reds put up six runs and six hits over J.D. Martin's 5 1/3-inning outing for the Nationals, who have lost three in a row and five of six.

Washington was coming off back-to-back shutouts versus Florida and has only scored eight runs over its last five games. Nyjer Morgan and Cristian Guzman had one RBI each last night.

"As a manager that's what you do, you worry," Washington manager Jim Riggleman said of the recent offensive slump. "You never take anything for granted. I'm positive we'll come out here [Tuesday] and try to win a ballgame."

The Nats recalled right-hander Luis Atilano last night from Triple-A Syracuse and he will start tonight.

Atilano is 6-6 with a 4.85 ERA and he lost his final two starts before getting sent down to the minors. He last pitched on July 8 versus the Padres and was charged with four runs on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings of a 7-1 setback.

The 25-year-old made his first career start versus the Reds on June 5, squaring off with Leake, and gave up two runs, only one earned, over seven innings in a tough-luck loss.

The Reds took two of three in Washington on June 4-6, but it was the Nationals who took three of four at Cincinnati last season.

Casinoxtc Baseball Betting News

<< Rangers try to deal spiraling Tigers a seventh straight loss
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tommy Hunter hopes to deliver Texas' first series win in Detroit since 2007 this evening, when the Rangers play the middle test of their three-game set with the Tigers at Comerica Park. Texas had lost 11 straight in Detroi

<< Dodgers' Kershaw goes for 10th win versus Lincecum-led Giants
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Dodgers young starter Clayton Kershaw has never reached double digits in wins and will get a chance tonight against the NL West-rival San Francisco Giants in the continuation of a three-game series from Chavez Rav

<< Mets hope to find their road game in Arizona
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The road hasn't been too kind for the New York Mets and last night's embarrassing loss in Arizona was proof. The Mets will try to regroup on their 11-game, three-city tour out west tonight in the second portion of a three-gam

<< Cardinals seek seventh straight victory in clash with Phils
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Home runs are not easy to hit, but the St. Louis Cardinals made it their job in last night's win over the Philadelphia Phillies. The NL Central-leading Cardinals will try to go deep again Tuesday in the second installment of

<< NHL veteran Keane won't return to Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Long-time NHL forward Mike Keane won't return to the Manitoba Moose for the 2010-11 season. Manitoba, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks, announced it won't renew the 43-year-

Cubs, Astros continue series at Wrigley Field >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs had the wind taken out of their sails in last night's loss to the Houston Astros and will try for a measure of revenge Tuesday in the second installment of a three-game series at Wrigley Field. The Cubs wo

Royals try to make it two in a row over Jays >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals try to string back-to-back wins together this evening, when they play the middle test of their three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals halted a six-game losing

Garza, Rays vie to continue success against Orioles >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Garza takes aim at win No. 11 when the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles continue a three-game set this evening at Camden Yards. Getting that win tonight shouldn't be a problem for Garza, who is 8-1 with a 2.48 ear

Hughes goes for 12th win in Yankees-Angels opener >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Phil Hughes takes aim at win No. 12 when the New York Yankees open a brief two-game series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim this evening at Yankee Stadium. Hughes, the loser in last Tuesday's All-Star Game, won six o

Red Sox hand ball to Wakefield in Oakland >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After getting an important West Coast road trip off to a good start, the Boston Red Sox shoot for a second straight win over the Oakland Athletics when the teams continue a three-game series tonight at the Coliseum. Bosto

Sportsbook Betting Lines

Who Makes the Sportsbook Betting Lines?

Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.

“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.

“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “

What are the Football Betting Lines Trying to Accomplish?

There is a common misconception that point spreads represent the oddsmakers’ prediction of how many points the favorite will win by. That is not the case at all – their intent is NOT to evenly split the ATS result between the teams; rather, their goal is to attract equal betting action on both sides. Stated another way, they want to create a line that half the people find appealing to bet one way while the other half find it appealing to bet the other way (known as ‘dividing the action’).

Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).

How the Opening Line Is Made

The opening line is the first line created by the oddsmakers, which is then sent out to sportsbooks. Of course there is an entire method to the madness on how the opening line is created. Seba explained that it all starts with each oddsmaker creating a line on each game based upon their own personal approach. This usually includes having up-to-date power ratings on each team.

Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.

Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.

Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.

The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.

A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.

Why Sports Betting Lines Change

Once the opening line is released by LVSC, the individual sportsbooks decide if they want to make any adjustments before offering it to the public. Reasons for such adjustments include:

Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game

Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)

The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.

Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.

For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.

Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."

“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”

To visit this internet sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your sports betting needs and World Series odds.