Angels ready for key series with visiting Blue Jays

Baseball Betting Lines

08/13/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After getting swept by the dreadful Baltimore Orioles early last week, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have responded in a positive way.

Still a long way off from a playoff berth, the Angels look to keep the drive going when they open a three-game series versus the Toronto Blue Jays tonight at the "Big A". They took two of three meetings in Detroit following the sweep by Baltimore and most recently won all three of their matchups with Kansas City.

Bobby Abreu continued to swing a hot bat for Anaheim since hitting from the leadoff spot, and he belted the game-winning home run in the bottom of the 10th inning of Wednesday's 2-1 victory over the Royals. Abreu, who's known for his patience at the plate and ability to work the count, owns two homers, three doubles and six runs batted in since switching to leadoff.

"It was a changeup, and he left it up," Abreu said of his 14th home run off of Jesse Chavez. "I wasn't looking for a home run, but I'll take it."

Erick Aybar had a sacrifice fly and Maicer Izturis recorded a team-best three hits for the Angels, who are 7 1/2 games behind Texas for the lead in the American League West Division. Anaheim is 11 games off the pace in the Wild Card standings.

Angels starter Jered Weaver pitched eight innings of one-run ball and struck out 11 batters in the no-decision. Kevin Jepsen hurled a scoreless ninth inning before closer Brian Fuentes fanned two in the 10th for the win.

Scott Kazmir hopes to duplicate Weaver's performance in Friday's series opener and will make his second start since coming off the disabled list due to arm fatigue. He previously pitched in last Saturday's 10-1 pounding of the Tigers at Comerica Park and gave up one unearned run in five innings. It was Kazmir's first start since July 10 at Oakland and he ended a personal four-game losing streak in the process.

The left-hander, who is 8-9 with a 6.57 ERA in 18 overall starts this season, has plenty of experience with Toronto from his days with the AL East's Tampa Bay Rays. Kazmir is 4-4 with a 3.86 ERA in 14 career starts against the Jays.

Toronto will begin a nine-game road trip against the Angels, Athletics and Red Sox tonight and has won six of its last nine games. It salvaged the finale of a three-game series versus Boston with yesterday's 6-5 victory, thanks to a four-run explosion in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Jose Bautista belted his major league-leading 36th home run of the season to lead off the ninth and Vernon Wells followed with a double before scoring on Adam Lind's ensuing single to center field. DeWayne Wise then came on as a pinch runner for Lind and later came around to score the game-tying run on a double by Edwin Encarnacion.

Fred Lewis then plated Aaron Hill, who reached on a single after Lind's hit, with the game-winning run with a sacrifice fly.

Brad Mills started for the Blue Jays and did not figure in the outcome, allowing four runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings. Kevin Gregg was credited with the win for tossing a scoreless ninth inning.

"Everybody did their part (Thursday)," Hill said of the comeback win. "We made some plays in the field, Brad hung in there, the bullpen pitched steady and it's always nice to start off a ninth (inning) with a home run,"

Toronto's Marc Rzepczynski will make his third start of the season tonight and is 0-1 with a 7.15 ERA in four games this season. He last pitched in the majors on July 21 at Kansas City and was dealt the loss for permitting five runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings.

Rzepczynski faced the Angels on August 21 of last season in a 5-4 win and earned the victory with 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball.

The Angels have taken five of six matchups with Toronto this season and won twice against the Blue Jays in a three-game series at home from May 24-26.

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Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.