Braden tosses four-hitter as A's down Rangers

Baseball Betting Lines

08/28/2010 - Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Braden threw his second shutout of the season to lift the Oakland Athletics to a 5-0 win over the Texas Rangers in the second of a three-game set.

Braden (9-9) gave up just four hits and struck out one in throwing his fifth complete game of the season for the Athletics, who had dropped four of six coming in. Kurt Suzuki went 4-for-5 with two RBI, while Daric Barton scored four times and drove in two in the win.

Rich Harden (5-5) was tagged for four runs on eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings for the Rangers, who had won five of six prior to the loss. Jorge Cantu's double was the lone extra-base hit for the Rangers.

Oakland took a 1-0 lead in the first as Kevin Kouzmanoff's two-out single scored Barton. On the play, Suzuki was nailed trying to take third to end the inning.

In the third, the A's made it a 3-0 game as Coco Crisp singled with one out and Barton followed with a blast over the right field wall.

Oakland tacked on another run in the fifth as Barton hit a one-out double and Suzuki followed with an RBI single for a 4-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Braden kept the Texas offense in check as Cantu, in the second inning, was the only Rangers baserunner to reach second base until the ninth.

Oakland made it a 5-0 game in the seventh when Barton worked a one-out walk and came home on a double from Suzuki.

Braden continued to dominate the Rangers in the seventh as he set them down in order for the fifth time and worked around a two-out single from Alex Cora in the eighth.

Elvis Andrus singled to start off the ninth, but Braden set down the next three batters to seal the win.

Game Notes

Braden went 3-2 over five starts in August and improved to 2-4 lifetime against Texas...Each team has won seven times in the season series...Harden fell to 1-2 against his former team...Attendance was 47,411 and the game time was 2:28.

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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.