Baseball Betting

Reds' Griffey brings his 599 homers to Philadelphia

Baseball Betting Lines

06/02/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ken Griffey Jr. brings his historic home run chase to Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park, as the Cincinnati Reds take on the Phillies tonight in the first of four consecutive games.

Griffey belted his 599th career home run over the weekend and is trying to become the sixth player to reach the illustrious 600-homer club. He is one good swing away from joining Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Sammy Sosa with 600 career home runs. Griffey's last homer came during an 8-7, 10-inning win over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday.

The sweet-swinging future Hall of Famer has played in 36 games (130 at-bats) against Philadelphia and owns just four home runs. Griffey has visited hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park on 12 different occasions, going deep just twice in 54 plate appearances.

Cincinnati is fresh off a sweep of the Braves, including Sunday's 6-2 victory behind the solid play of rookie Jay Bruce. Bruce finished 2-for-3 with a solo homer and an RBI single, while Griffey ended 2-for-3 with a run scored for the Reds, who will kick off an eight-game trek tonight in Philly and Florida. Bruce has gone 13-for-22 with two home runs since being called up. Adam Dunn also homered for the Reds, who swept the Braves in Cincinnati for the first time in 12 years.

Reds starter Johnny Cueto earned the win and didn't allow a hit until the sixth inning. He gave up two runs on four hits with three strikeouts and a walk in seven innings of work.

Bronson Arroyo will try to keep his recent unbeaten streak intact when he takes the ball for Cincinnati on Monday. Arroyo has won two straight starts and is 3-0 over the past five trips to the mound, including a May 28 performance versus Pittsburgh in which he gave up one run in six frames of a 9-1 victory. Arroyo improved to 4-4 with a 5.29 ERA in 12 starts in 2008.

The right-hander, who is 3-1 in six road starts this season, lost to the Phillies at home on April 7 this season. He was reached for five runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings during a 5-3 loss. Arroyo is 1-4 with a 4.93 earned run average in seven career games (six starts) against the Phillies.

Philadelphia will resume a 10-game homestand this evening against the Reds, and won two of three games versus the Florida Marlins over the weekend to grab a one-half game lead in the National League East standings. In Sunday's 7-5 win over the Marlins in the series finale, Pat Burrell's two-run double in the seventh inning put the Phils ahead for good. Geoff Jenkins tied the game at 5-5 with a two-run homer in the sixth, while Chase Utley also went deep.

Starter Jamie Moyer earned the win and improved to 8-0 in eight lifetime starts against the Marlins. After a shaky start, the veteran settled down and hurled seven innings, allowing five runs on seven hits without a walk. The effort helped the Phillies to their sixth win in seven tries. They also own an 18-12 record at Citizens Bank Park this season.

Kyle Kendrick will try to keep the Phillies atop the NL East standings when he takes the ball on Monday versus the Reds. Kendrick is 4-2 with a 4.84 ERA in 11 starts this season, and 3-0 in his previous eight trips to the mound. The Phillies are 7-1 over that span.

In his last start on May 27 versus Colorado, Kendrick recorded the win after limiting the Rockies to a pair of runs and seven hits in 7 1/3 innings. The second-year right-hander beat Cincinnati on April 4 this season despite yielding four runs and eight hits in five frames of an 8-4 win at Great American Ballpark. He is 2-0 with a 6.55 earned run average in two career outings against Cincinnati.

The 2008 season series between Cincinnati and Philadelphia is tied at two games apiece, while the Phillies are 14-9 against the Reds since the start of the 2005 campaign.

<< Rockies try to end road woes in LA
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies will try again for the first victory of their current 10-game road trip, as they battle the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight in the opener of a three-game set at Chavez Ravine. The Rockies are 0-7 s

<< Angels play the first of three in Seattle
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of American League West rivals get together tonight at Seattle's Safeco Field, where the division-leading LA Angels of Anaheim begin a six-game road trip with the first of three straight meetings with the last-place M

<< Pirates, Cardinals conclude series at Busch
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals hope to complete a week-long homestand on a positive note with tonight's finale of a four-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates from Busch Stadium. St. Louis has gone 4-2 thus far on the seven-gam

<< Cubs carry seven-game winning streak into San Diego
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs hit the road with a seven-game winning streak in tow and will attempt to keep rolling in tonight's clash with the San Diego Padres from Petco Park. Chicago completed a perfect week-long homestand and a fo

<< Golf at the Olympics? Absolutely
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Five years ago I jumped out of an airplane at 15,000 feet and looked down on Scotland Run Golf Club in New Jersey. As my tandem instructor positioned me in a nosedive towards the green and beige patchwork, I

Marlins, Braves open four-game set in Atlanta >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins will continue their 10-game trip against NL East foes this evening, when they begin a four-game series against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. Florida was riding a three-game winning streak before l

Mets try to keep momentum going in San Francisco >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets are playing the kind of baseball right now that could save a manager's job. Willie Randolph's crew will try to maintain its hot play in the opener of a three-game set tonight with the San Francis

Diamondbacks kick off road trip in Milwaukee >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National League West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks begin a 10-game road trip tonight, starting with the first of three consecutive games against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. Arizona is 11-13 away from the deser

Red Sox aim for four-game sweep of Orioles >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While Boston's 10-game road trip didn't get off to a great note, it sure can end on one. The Red Sox try to run their record to .500 on the trek, which ends tonight in the finale of a four-game set with the Baltimo

Rangers resume homestand with clash against reeling Indians >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers continue their 10-game homestand this evening with the first of four games against the Cleveland Indians at Rangers Ballpark. The Rangers started their homestand in impressive fashion by taking t

FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).

Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.

Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).

Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.

Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.

The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.

What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.

Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.

But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.

In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.

American Idol Betting Odds: Season 6  

The online gambling websites are in the process of deciphering each American Idol contestant and his or her chances of winning Season 6 to come up with the early American Idol betting lines.

Tim Dalton of MySportsbook.com has been locked away in a soundproof room coming up with all the latest tallies, we are told. "American Idol has become one of the most significant betting events of the year," claims Jack Black of MySportsbook.com.  "Last year, millions were bet during the season across the globe, not just in America.

It's tough early on since we really do not have a glimpse as to how well each of these individuals will perform solo on a week-to-week basis.  It's like Week 1 of the NFL.  Pre-season means nada!

We do know the 24 finalists however.

Sanjaya Malakar is the young man whose sister failed to make it into the Top 24.  He's very low key but - unless he totally flubs - will probably win over the young girlie vote for a few weeks anyway.  He's too young to go all the way, according to Payton O'Brien. 

Brandon Rogers - Who?

Phil Stacy is the military guy who missed his daughter's birth because of the Memphis audition.  He should go a good distance.

Chris Sligh - He's got the humor and in many ways he's the Anti-American Idol much like last year's winner Taylor Hicks was.  And this is why he'll probably get pretty far in this competition.  He's chubby, white with a big curly afro....but more importantly, a great voice!  People love "real", not "real cute" to go all the way. 

"Blake Lewis should go far because of his uniqueness and looks.  He's the boy next store with a twist - he beat boxes.  But on top of this, he's a great singer, and I adore him," Payton O'Brien relayed.

A talented beat-boxer Blake Lewis was a hit during the group sing in Hollywood but Simon explained that this is a singing contest just before he told him he was “in.”

Paul Kim has caught our own roving reporter, Jenny Woo's eyes. 

"I love the fact that there is a Korean American on the show and he is bound to get more Asians tuning into the show," Woo said from her Miami Beach estate.  "There has never been a major presence of Asian-Americans on American Idol in the past.  He's a hottie with a nice voice so that should help to take him far.  Expect heavy betting action from the Asian community."

Sundance Head - He's not perfect, but he's got the personality that will take him through a few weeks, plus he's got the lineage (son of Roy Head - whose 1965 single, "Treat Her Right," hit No. 5 in the charts) 

And the others:

Rudy Cardinas
AJ Tabaldo - the 5th time is the charm
Nicolas Pedro
Chris Richardson
Jared Cotter

The girls

"Melinda Doolittle has one of the best voices," says MySportsbook.com Reporter and an acclaimed dancer in her own right, Destiney Lewis.  "It is great to see a back up singer step out like she has.  The girl needs to gain more confidence but that can also be a positive.  I think she will go far."

Alena Alexander - Those tears (she never seems to stop bawling) should get her far.

"Single mom Lakisha Jones I suspect will be a pretty big favorite entering Week 1 of the competition," says Destiny Williams.  Jones is an excellent singer and down to earth.  "She'll have a wide appeal," echoed O'Brien.

Nicole Trellis - Seems to exert confidence.

Amy Krebs - a powerful singer.

Antonella Barba
Gina Glocksen
Hailey Scanardo
Jordan Sparks
Stephanie Edwards
Leslie Hunt
Sabrina Sloan

MySportsbook.com is offering a 20% signup bonus with an initial deposit (i.e. open your American Idol betting account with $300, receive another $60 in which to bet with). 

Last two contestants will be?

1 Male/1 Female +100 (a $10 bet pays $10 plus your initial $10)

2 Males +170 (a $10 bet pays $17 plus your initial $17)

2 Females +130 (a $10 bet pays $13 plus your initial $10)

MySportsbook.com is an online sportsbook accepts Visa Credit Cards and online sportsbook accepts Mastercard Credit Cards for easy American Idol betting lines.