Red Sox edge hot-headed Mariners in Beckett's return
Baseball Betting Lines
07/24/2010 - Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bill Hall hit the go-ahead home run in the seventh inning and Josh Beckett pitched into the sixth in his first appearance in over two months as Boston edged the Mariners, 2-1, in the continuation of a four-game series.
Beckett had been sidelined with a lower back strain. In his first game since May 18, the right-hander went 5 2/3 innings, yielding one run on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts. He threw 98 pitches, 62 for strikes.
The Red Sox blew a five-run lead in the ninth inning on Thursday, but managed to win the opener of the four-game series, 8-6, in 13 innings. Jonathan Papelbon, who was part of that ninth-inning collapse, escaped a jam in the final frame Friday for his 22nd save of the year.
The Mariners not only suffered their eighth loss in 10 games, but tempers boiled over in a skirmish in the team's dugout in the fifth inning apparently over a lackadaisical effort in the top portion of the frame by second baseman Chone Figgins.
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Johan Santana silenced the Dodgers for seven innings, and New York's offense awoke from a two-week slumber in a 6-1 victory at Chavez Ravine. The Mets were held to four runs or less in each of the
<< Diamondbacks' Kelly Johnson hits for cycle
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Kelly
Johnson became the fourth player in team history to hit for the cycle Friday
against the Giants.
Johnson homered in the first inning and was hit by a pitc
<< Wife of former Steelers coach Cowher dies
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kaye Cowher, the wife of former Pittsburgh
Steelers head coach Bill Cowher, reportedly died Friday at the age of 54.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports Kaye died in her native North Carolina
after a
<< Indians extend home win streak against Rays
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fausto Carmona allowed just one unearned run
in five strong innings, as the Indians extended their home dominance of the
Tampa Bay Rays with a 3-1 win in a rain-shortened, seven-inning affair at
Progres
<< Edmonds powers Brewers past Nationals
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jim Edmonds entered as an injury replacement
for Corey Hart early in the game and went 2-for-3 with three RBI, including
the go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning, to lift Milwaukee to a 7-5
win ove
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mark Buehrle pitched his second complete game of the season to earn his first career win in Oakland as the White Sox topped the A's, 5-1, to open a three-game series. Buehrle (9-8) twirled a four-hitter, o
Santana shuts down Dodgers, Mets offense awakens >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Johan Santana silenced the Dodgers for
seven innings, and New York's offense awoke from a two-week slumber in a 6-1
victory at Chavez Ravine.
The Mets were held to four runs or less in each of the
Huff's HRs lift Giants; D'Backs lose despite Johnson cycle >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aubrey Huff hit two home runs and drove in
three, as the San Francisco Giants spoiled Kelly Johnson's cycle and beat the
Diamondbacks, 7-4, in the continuation of a four-game series.
Andres Torres added
Cards activate Ryan Ludwick off DL >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals have activated
outfielder Ryan Ludwick off the 15-day disabled list.
Ludwick had been sidelined with a strained calf since June 26 and missed 23
games entering Saturday's c
A-Rod hopes for another milestone against Kyle Davies >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez continues his quest to become the youngest
player to 600 home runs this afternoon when the New York Yankees resume their
four-game series with the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium.
On Saturday, Rodriguez
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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