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Laynce Nix went 4-for-4 with a home run for the Nationals, but left the game with an Achilles injury and may not be able to play tonight. Washington fell a game under .500 at 40-41.

 

(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers try to continue their mastery of the Houston Astros this evening when the Lone Star State rivals resume a three- game set at Minute Maid Park. The Rangers have won four straight Silver Boot trophies, awarded annually to the victor in the interleague matchup between the two clubs each year. It hasn't been much of a rivalry, though, lately, as Texas took two of three from the Astros earlier in the year and has won the season series in each of the last two years by a 5-1 margin, while compiling a 13-3 mark against their in- state rivals since the start of the 2009 campaign.

 

C.J. Wilson (8-3) worked seven strong innings to earn the win, giving up a pair of runs on seven hits while fanning three and walking two. In addition to his work on the mound, Wilson also ripped a triple.

 

Michael Bourn had a pair of hits, including a triple, for the Astros, who have lost four games in a row and seven of their last eight. Houston has also lost seven in a row at home and another loss tonight would give the Astros their first eight-game skid there since a franchise-record 11-game slide July 23- Aug. 17, 1966.

 

"It just didn't fall my way tonight," Lyles said. "I don't know what the ball- strike ratio was tonight, but it couldn't have been good."

 

Houston, meanwhile, will rely on veteran Brett Myers, who also received a no- decision against Lewis and the Rangers his last time out. Myers gave up two runs and six hits in six innings of that one. He is 3-6 on the year with a 4.65 ERA.

 

Myers has yet to receive a decision in two starts versus the Rangers, but has pitched to a lofty 7.88 ERA in those outings.

 

Worley faced Seattle on that day and hurled five innings of one-run ball in a no-decision. He then toed the rubber against the Athletics on Friday and carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning. The 23-year-old righty ended up scattering a hit and four walks over six scoreless frames, but got a no- decision in his team's 1-0 walk-off victory.

 

The Red Sox will be happy to face any other pitcher than Lee, who hurled his third straight shutout in last night's 5-0 Phillies victory. The former Cy Young Award winner took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and allowed two hits and two walks to finish June with a 5-0 mark and 0.21 ERA.

 

The 32-year-old also set a new career high in consecutive scoreless innings, extending it to 32, and became the first Phils hurler since Robin Roberts in 1950 to throw three straight shutouts.

 

Domonic Brown and Shane Victorino both hit two-run homers for the Phillies, who have won five of their last seven and lead the Braves by 4 1/2 games for first place in the National League East.

Supercazino Baseball Betting Blog

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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

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