Two Hits Down Davies Brewers

Baseball Betting Lines

The right-hander last pitched on Monday when he gave up four runs on eight hits over eight innings of work in a 5-4 loss to Cleveland. Kennedy did manage to fan eight, giving him a total of 31 strikeouts over his last four appearances.

 

Oakland, which is just 7-10 in interleague play this season, has the fewest home runs of any team in the majors entering play on Sunday, having generated a mere 43 long balls over 84 games. The A's have thrilled the hometown fans with just 20 home runs in 40 games thus far.

 

(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Locked in a tie for first place in the National League Central with the St. Louis Cardinals, the Milwaukee Brewers try to separate themselves by closing out their three-game interleague set against the Minnesota Twins on a positive note this afternoon at Target Field. The Brewers are actually lucky to be in this position at the moment, given that they squeezed by Minnesota in an 8-7 final yesterday in order to halt a four-game slide. It also doesn't help that a team with an amazing 29-11 record at home thus far has posted a mere 16-28 mark on the road.

 

Nyjer Morgan finished up 3-for-5 with a home run, double, triple and four RBI, and scored the winning run for the Brewers in a four-run ninth inning on Saturday to give the visitors the hard-fought win. Pinch-hitter George Kottaras plated the game-winning run, while Jonathan Lucroy went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI for Milwaukee in the triumph as well.

 

Fielder continues to lead the NL in RBI with 69 and is tied for second in the league with 21 home runs, yet he's delivered just one long ball in his last 10 games and only one RBI in the last five.

 

Carl Pavano kept the Twins on top as he permitted just four runs on eight hits, striking out four, through 7 2/3 innings. Unfortunately the bullpen, specifically Matt Capps, was unable to bring home the win for their starter. Capps recorded only two outs but surrendered four runs on five hits as he absorbed his fourth loss of 2011.

 

The eight-year veteran was stomped on Tuesday by New York as the Yankees recorded seven runs on just five hits and three walks in two innings. Greinke, who surrendered eight runs, yet struck out 10 in 5 1/3 innings versus the Chicago Cubs 12 days earlier, failed to fan a single batter in the 12-2 loss to the Bronx Bombers. He also hit a batter and was charged with a wild pitch versus the Yankees.

 

Against Minnesota for his career, Greinke is a mere 3-8 with a 4.90 ERA in 15 appearances.

 

Against the Dodgers the Oklahoma native lasted just 4 1/3 innings and was charged with 13 hits and eight runs, seven of them earned. Despite the lopsided outcome, Blackburn's ERA on the season rose to just 3.64.

Ganblerscorner Baseball Betting Blog

<< Hits With Time Campaign

<< First Base Leads League Against Arizona

<< Ball Adds Luebke Into Base

<< Marta From Half Sunday

<< Oduro In Australia Guinea

Lohse Lyles Visit Highlight Of Mark >>

Jeter Ball Pound Claim On Cardinals >>

Games Joins Milwaukee For Era >>

Cardinals In Carmona Spot >>

Hit From Game Thames >>

Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.