Brewers down Pirates to complete sweep

Baseball Betting Lines

08/29/2010 - Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Braun went 4-for-4 with a two-run homer and scored three runs, as the Milwaukee Brewers completed a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with an 8-4 win at Miller Park.

Chris Dickerson chipped in with a two-run single and drove in three for the Brewers, who had dropped four in a row entering the series and finished 13-5 against the Pirates this season.

Dave Bush (7-11) allowed four runs -- three earned -- on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts over seven innings to pick up the win. Trevor Hoffman retired the final two batters to record his eighth save of the season and up his save totals to an all-time major league-best 599.

Neil Walker hit a two-run homer while Ryan Doumit and Delwyn Young added solo shots for Pittsburgh, which has dropped nine of their last 12.

Charlie Morton (1-10), making his first start since May 27th, lasted only 3 1/3 innings in his return from the minors. The right-hander was raked for eight runs -- seven earned -- on nine hits, walked one and struck out two.

Walker's two-run homer just inside the right-field foul pole in the first gave the Pirates a brief early lead.

However, Milwaukee answered with three in the home portion. Consecutive singles and a walk loaded the bases with two outs before Dickerson chased in a pair with a single to right. With runners still on the corners, Morton's errant pickoff throw to first allowed another to score that put the Brewers up, 3-2.

In the Milwaukee third with runners on first and third and one out, Dickerson's groundout brought in a run, and Alcides Escobar and George Kottaras each added an RBI single to give the hosts a 6-2 edge.

Doumit got the Bucs a run closer with homer to right leading off the fourth, but Braun clubbed a two-run shot in the home half to make it 8-3.

Young's homer in the seventh made it an 8-4 game, accounting for the final margin.

Game Notes

Bush improved to 6-5 in 16 career games against the Pirates, while Morton fell to 0-4 in four all-time meetings against Milwaukee...Kottaras finished 3-for-4 with an RBI for the Brewers...Pirates reliever Evan Meek was hit by a line drive in his right wright in the eighth and had to leave the game.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

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