Angels hope to get second half off to good start vs. Mariners

Baseball Betting Lines

07/15/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - No team was happier to see the All-Star break than the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Hopefully recharged, the Angels get their second half started with the opener of a four-game set with the Seattle Mariners at Angel Stadium.

The Angels headed into the break with losses in eight of their final 10 games. However, despite their struggles and injury problems, the Angels are only 4 1/2 games off the pace of the American League West-leading Texas Rangers.

Of course the Angels' hopes took a hit with the season-ending leg injury to first baseman Kendry Morales. Outfielder Torii Hunter, though, has picked up the slack in Morales' absence, belting 15 home runs and 62 RBI. However, he struggled heading into the break, managing just one hit over his final 10 at- bats.

"We know that one person is not going to fill Kendry Morales' shoes and what he brings to the team," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He's the one hitter in the middle of our lineup that really makes everyone around him better. I think that speaks volume to his talents. That being said, I think that our offensive lineup -- if people can play to their capabilities -- will be deep enough for us to absorb a lot of that and to give ourselves an opportunity to score runs and support what we think is a good pitching staff."

Tonight the Angels turn to right-hander Joel Pineiro, who has gone at least six innings in each of his last nine starts and has a 6-1 record during that span. Pineiro did not get a decision in his last start before the break on Friday in Oakland, as he allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings of his team's 6-5 win.

Pineiro, who pitched the first seven years of his career in Seattle, beat the Mariners back on June 6 and is 1-1 with a 5.87 ERA in three games (one start) against them.

Seattle, meanwhile, was perhaps the American League's most disappointing team in the first half. With Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez at the top of the rotation, most people had the Mariners finishing first in the AL West. However, Lee missed the first month of the season with an abdominal injury and Seattle struggled offensively, putting itself in a hole that led to the trade of Lee to Texas right before the break.

At 35-53, the Mariners occupy last place in the West, 15 games back of the Rangers. Seattle headed into the break having lost nine of its last 11 games.

"Obviously there have been some challenges and disappointments," Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu said. "As we go forward, we feel like we need to get over some hurdles offensively."

Seattle will hand the ball tonight to righty Doug FIster, who is 3-4 with a 3.09 ERA. Fister did not get a decision the last time he pitched back on July 7 against Kansas City, but gave up just one run and six hits in six innings of his team's 7-3 loss.

Fister is 1-0 in two starts against the Angels with a 2.51 ERA.

The Angels are 7-2 against Seattle this season and have not lost a season series against the Mariners since 2003.

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Sportsbooks to bet on football

Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.

He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.

"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.

He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.

Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.

Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.

Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.

Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.

With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.

Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).

And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)

The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.

While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.

Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.

One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.

Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.

What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.

That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.

MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.

"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.

"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."

So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.

In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.

MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.

The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.

Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.

MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.

To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.