Martinez knocks in four as BoSox sweep Angels

Baseball Betting Lines

05/06/2010 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Victor Martinez went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and four runs batted in, leading the Red Sox in an 11-6 slugfest win over the Angels to sweep a four-game series at Fenway Park.

Dustin Pedroia added two hits and three runs scored, while Jeremy Hermida drove in three runs for the Red Sox, who have swept a four-game set from the Angels in Boston only one other time -- during consecutive doubleheaders on August 19-20, 1967.

Darnell McDonald knocked in a pair of runs, while Adrian Beltre went 2-for-5 with an RBI in the win.

Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-1) lasted only 5 1/3 innings in his second start of the season but earned the win nonetheless, allowing five runs, five hits and three walks.

Mike Napoli hit a two-run homer for the Angels, who have lost seven straight games for the first time since September 30-October 7, 2001. Howie Kendrick added two hits and two RBI, while Bobby Abreu reached base in all five of his plate appearances via two hits and three walks.

Scott Kazmir (2-2) struggled with his command, giving up seven runs on six hits and five walks in just 4 1/3 frames to receive the loss.

Trailing by two entering the fifth, Boston scored five times to move in front for good and knock Kazmir out of the game.

Marco Scutaro singled leading off, and Pedroia doubled down the left field line. Both runners scored on Martinez's ground ball double down the right field line, tying the score at 4-4, and Kevin Youkilis drew a walk.

After retiring Mike Lowell, Kazmir walked J.D. Drew, prompting the Angels to insert Brian Stokes into the game to pitch. Stokes looked to avoid damage after striking out Beltre, but Hermida sent a seeing-eye single up the middle to score two more runs, and McDonald finished the big inning with an RBI double for a 7-4 contest.

Matsuzaka was knocked out the following inning when he gave up a one-out double to Juan Rivera. Napoli then made it a one-run game with a two-out, two- run homer off Manny Delcarmen.

Boston responded with four more runs in the home sixth to widen the gap. Stokes loaded the bases with one out and walked Drew on five pitches to force in a run and end his outing.

Matt Palmer came on to pitch, but Beltre plated a run with a base hit, and another run scored when Hermida reached on an error. McDonald's RBI fielder's choice groundout capped the frame with the Red Sox holding an 11-6 advantage.

Boston's Hideki Okajima stranded a pair of runners in a scoreless seventh, and Ramon Ramirez induced an inning-ending double play in the eighth to maintain the five-run lead; he stayed on to pitch a scoreless ninth and cement the win.

The Angels did not take a swing at any of Matsuzaka's first 14 pitches in the first inning, as Erick Aybar and Abreu both walked to open up the frame. Torii Hunter singled through the middle to plate Aybar, and Hideki Matsui walked two batters later to re-load the bases with one out.

Rivera sent a ground ball to the shortstop Scutaro, who was able to get the out at second but couldn't complete the double play. A run scored on the play, and Kendrick followed with a two-run double off the wall in center for a 4-0 advantage.

Boston cut its deficit in half in the third on Martinez's two-run blast, his second of the season, that scored Pedroia, who had walked.

Game Notes

The Angels have never lost eight straight since manager Mike Scioscia joined the team in 2000...The last Boston four-game sweep of Los Angeles occurred on June 12-15, 1980 in California...The Angels are 0-6 in May for the first time in team history. Their worst start for a single month is 0-10 in July, 1974...Matsuzaka has allowed 11 earned runs in 10 innings this season...The Angels are 12-18 after 30 games for the first time since 1994...Time of game: 3:43.

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FOOTBALL BETTING LINES

NFL Football Sports Betting

Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.

New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.

His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.

HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.

The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.

RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.

First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.

The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.

These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.

New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.

You can find these lines and all of the NFL betting lines , so be sure to login and get your wagers down before kickoff!

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines .
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What Is the Point Spread?

What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?

In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.

Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).

If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).

Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.

How to Read Point Spreads

New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles

The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)

In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:

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