Alvarez, Pirates hang on to beat Brewers following nine-run first

Baseball Betting Lines

07/20/2010 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie Pedro Alvarez hit two homers, including his first career grand slam, as the Pittsburgh Pirates scored nine times in the first inning and held on to edge the Milwaukee Brewers, 11-9, in the second of a four-game set at PNC Park.

Alvarez knocked in five runs, while rookie Neil Walker went 5-for-5 with an RBI and run scored for Pittsburgh, which snapped a five-game losing streak to Milwaukee, but won for only the third time in its last 11 overall. Jose Tabata added a two-run double in the win.

D.J. Carrasco (2-2) was credited with the win for throwing 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief with five strikeouts. Pirates starter Brad Lincoln labored through 2 1/3 innings, allowing nine hits and seven runs with one strikeout. Octavio Dotel recorded his 20th save of the season with a scoreless ninth.

Jim Edmonds hit a three-run homer and Ryan Braun added a two-run shot for the Brewers, who had won six of eight coming in.

Dave Bush (4-8) was raked for 10 runs -- five earned -- on nine hits with a pair of walks and as many strikeouts over four innings. The right-hander snapped a streak of six straight starts having allowed two runs or fewer.

Pittsburgh jumped all over Bush, sending 13 hitters to the plate and putting up a nine-spot in the first. The Pirates loaded the bases on back-to-back singles and a walk with one out before Alvarez cracked a 2-2 hanging curveball into the right-field seats.

Lastings Milledge then singled, moved to second on Bush's pickoff attempt and scored when Erik Kratz's grounder couldn't be handled by third baseman Casey McGehee. Ronny Cedeno reached on another error by McGehee that put runners on first and second. After Lincoln bunted the runners up a base, Tabata brought in both with a double to right. Delwyn Young and Walker added back-to-back RBI two-baggers for a 9-0 game.

It was the first time the Pirates scored nine runs in the first inning since June 8, 1989 when they scored 10 at Philadelphia, but lost the game 15-11.

Milwaukee answered with three in the second inning on run-scoring singles from Alcides Escobar, Jonathan Lucroy and Rickie Weeks.

Alvarez clubbed a homer leading off the home second to make it 10-3, but the Brewers put four up in the third. Prince Fielder and McGehee hit consecutive one-out singles before Edmonds' launched a three-run shot to center. Escobar followed with a triple and crossed the plate on Lucroy's infield single which would signal the end of the night for Lincoln.

Carrasco came on and prevented further damage with a pair of strikeouts, then tossed a scoreless fourth and fifth.

Brendan Donnelly replaced Carrasco in the sixth and walked Weeks leading off, and Braun homered to left two batters later to cut the Milwaukee deficit to 10-9. Garrett Jones' sacrifice fly in the home half put the Bucs up by two.

Evan Meek and Joel Hanrahan worked a scoreless seventh and eighth inning, respectively, bridging the gap to Dotel, who struck out the first two hitters in the ninth. The closer then served up a double to Edmonds, but fanned Escobar to end the game.

Game Notes

It was the first time the Pirates scored nine runs in the first inning at home since August 8, 1893 versus the Chicago Colts...Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen missed his second straight game with a right shoulder injury suffered on Sunday versus Houston and is listed as day-to-day...Pittsburgh manager John Russell was ejected in the top of the seventh for arguing a foul ball...Walker became the first Pirates rookie to have five hits in a game since John Wehner on July 23, 1991 against Atlanta.

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The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)

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Points (or Runs) Scored

Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.

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Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

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Proposition bets , also known as prop bets, focus upon the more exotic aspects of a game and are generally reserved for events that are widely televised. Prop bets are extremely popular when it comes to wagering on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. The Imperial Palace Casino’s sportsbook is well-known for the enormous number of prop bets offered. For example, you can bet on:

Types of Bets

Straight Bet

Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.

Sports Betting Parlays

A parlay is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers and is dependent on all of those wagers winning together. The benefit of the parlay bet is much better odds than placing each individual bet separately since the difficulty of hitting it is much higher.

Standard payoffs on a two-team parlay are 13/5; while a three-teamer pays 6/1; and a four-teamer 10/1.

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Adventurous bettors who enjoy betting parlays sometimes put together a series of parlays called a Round Robin . A three-team Round Robin consists of one three-team parlay and three two-team parlays. For example, Joe likes teams A,B,C – with a Round Robin he has a three-teamer with ABC, and two-teamers with AB, AC, and BC.

Betting Teasers

Similar to a parlay, a teaser bet is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers, but is different in that the point spread is adjusted to your advantage on each individual wager. In exchange for the points, you get less of a return on your bet compared to a parlay. For example, a 6-point teaser would move the line on a 7-point favorite from -7 to -1, meaning the team would have to cover 6 less points. Each of the individual wagers must win or the bet is a loss.

These are the main types of sports bets available today. But as sports betting continues to grow, sportsbooks will continue to develop new and creative ways to bet. We’ll continue to track these changes to the sports gambling landscape, so check back often and we’ll tell you all about it!

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MySportsbook.com week 1 NFL lines


Now that the 2008 NFL schedule is finally out, it is only matter-of-course for lines on “Week 1” to follow.  Of course MySportsbook.com is the first to churn out odds for the NFL’s inaugural week for the upcoming season.   Expect a lot of fireworks the first Thursday night of the season as the defending champion Indianapolis Colts face off against the surprise of the 2008 season, the New Orleans Saints.  These teams were ranked #1 and #3 in the NFL respectively a season ago so a high scoring affair could be in order.  As of now, the Colts will be giving 6 points to the Saints; keep in mind the Saints were one of the better road teams last season going 6-3 SU and 7-2 ATS.  The first Monday night of the season will again provide a “double feature”. Coming off a disappointing season, the Cincinnati Bengals will look to get back to playoffs and improve their public image as they take on the AFC North favorite Baltimore Ravens.  The second game features a couple of teams that haven’t had too much success recently but each could make some noise if the NFC is as weak as it was last year as the San Francisco 49ers host the Arizona Cardinals. The most interesting game of the opening week will feature the NFC champion Bears as they hit the road to take on the NFL’s top team during last year’s regular season, the San Diego Chargers.

MySportsbook.com Week 1 odds:

Saints +6 @ Colts -6

Falcons @ Vikings (pick ‘em)

Panthers @ Rams (pick ‘em)

Broncos -3.5 @ Bills +3.5

Chiefs -1 @ Texans +1

Dolphins +3 @ Redskins -3

Patriots -5 @ Jets +5

Eagles -3.5 @ Packers +3.5

Steelers -4 @ Browns +4

Titans +6 @ Jaguars -6

Bears +6 @ Chargers -6

Lions +3 @ Raiders -3

Bucs +6.5 @ Seahawks -6.5

Giants +4 @ Cowboys -4

Ravens +3 @ Bengals -3

Cardinals +3 @ 49ers -3

 Super Bowl line (2008)

NFC +6.5 vs. AFC -6.5

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