07/24/2008 - San Francisco, CA (Baseball Betting) - Rich Aurilia's two-run double off Luis Ayala highlighted a three-run eighth inning as San Francisco rallied to down Washington, 6-4, in the second test of a three-game series at AT&T Park.
Bengie Molina finished 3-for-4 with two RBI for the Giants, who have won two straight in the series. Aaron Rowand and Omar Vizquel added an RBI apiece for San Francisco.
"That's what we do...I don't think we're a home run team," Molina said. "I've always said since spring training, we can get a lot of hits and get a lot of runs in, instead of waiting for the three run home run and just get a lot of hits and see what happens later."
Kevin Correia started on the hill and surrendered four runs -- three earned -- on 12 hits in 5 2/3 innings. Geno Espineli (1-0) took the win after getting the final two outs in the eighth inning while Brian Wilson earned his 27th save with a scoreless ninth.
Jesus Flores had a two-run home run for the Nationals, who have lost five of their past seven games. Willie Harris finished 2-for-5.
Collin Balester allowed three runs on six hits in five innings en route to a no-decision. Ayala (1-6) was tagged with the loss after giving up all three runs in the eighth.
"He continues to struggle with his location," Nats manager Manny Acta said of Ayala. "He started the inning giving up the hit to Molina on an 0-2 count and then he let Aurilia beat him with his fourth best pitch so he's struggling. We played a very good ball game up to that point."
Trailing by a run, the Giants jumped back in front off Ayala. Molina led off the eighth with a single to left and was quickly replaced by pinch runner Emmanuel Burriss. After Rowand flied out, Burriss swiped second. Ayala then walked John Bowker before Aurilia laced his two-run double to center. Vizquel followed with another RBI double and San Francisco led 6-4 heading to the ninth.
Wilson gave up a one-out single to Ryan Zimmerman and then plunked Flores with two down before he fanned pinch hitter Kory Casto to end the game.
The Giants jumped on top with a pair of runs in the first inning. Randy Winn started things with a two-out single and quickly scored when Molina rapped a double to left-center. Rowand followed with another RBI double to make it a 2-0 game.
The Nats cut the lead in half during the fifth when Ryan Langerhans singled to center, moved to second on a Balester sacrifice bunt and came around to score when Bowker flubbed Willie Harris' ground ball to first.
San Francisco got that run back in the home half of the inning after Fred Lewis walked, advanced to second on a Eugenio Velez ground ball to first and crossed the plate when Molina ripped a double to center.
Washington responded with three runs in the sixth to take the lead. After Austin Kearns opened the frame with a base hit, Flores ripped a homer over the wall in left to deadlock the game at three. Langerhans then got on with a two- out double before pinch hitter Johnny Estrada ripped an RBI single up the middle.
Game Notes
Before the game the Giants recalled catcher Steve Holm from Triple-A Fresno and optioned catcher Eliezer Alfonzo down to Fresno. They also activated utilityman Dan Ortmeier from the 15-day disabled list and outrighted him to Fresno...San Francisco swept a four-game set against Washington in D.C. from June 6-9 of this season.
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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.
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