White Sox try to stay hot in Oakland

Baseball Betting Lines

07/24/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With Detroit and Minnesota nipping at their heels the Chicago White Sox will try to keep their small lead in the AL Central when they take on the Oakland Athletics this afternoon at the Coliseum.

One of the biggest reasons for Chicago's recent success has been the resurgence of Freddy Garcia who has won nine of his 17 starts for Chicago this season.

However, the right-hander has claimed just one win in his last four matchups. The last time Garcia was in action the veteran hurler held the Twins to just three runs, despite scattering 11 hits over six innings. Even though Garcia put forth a solid effort, the White Sox eventually fell to Minnesota, 7-6.

Garcia might be 5-1 in nine road games this season, but his record is deceiving considering his earned run average away from home is a lackluster 5.03 on the year.

This will be the 21st career start for Garcia against the Athletics, and in his career against Oakland, he has been nothing more than mediocre, posting just a 6-6 mark with a 4.98 earned run average.

The Athletics will turn to one of their young arms in Vin Mazzaro, as the right-hander will look to post his second straight victory. Mazzaro has pitched well in recent weeks, winning three of his last four starts, including a 9-6 victory over Kansas City in his last outing.

In the win over the Royals the New Jersey native tossed 7 2/3 impressive innings, surrendering just one run on seven hits, while also striking out five batters.

This will be just the second career start against Chicago for Mazzaro. In the only other showdown, the young hurler shut out the White Sox for 6 1/3 innings, scattering just three hits and walking four batters.

On Friday, Mark Buehrle pitched his second complete game of the season to earn his first career win in Oakland as the White Sox topped the A's, 5-1.

Buehrle (9-8) twirled a four-hitter, one a Jack Cust RBI double, and struck out two without issuing a walk. The veteran southpaw made it eight starts in a row allowing three runs or less and broke through for a win at the Coliseum in his 13th appearance and 11th career start there.

Buehrle bested an Oakland club that had won seven of its last eight games coming in and did so on the one-year anniversary of his perfect game against Tampa Bay.

Carlos Quentin and A.J. Pierzynski each had a pair of RBI in the win, Chicago's third in four games after dropping three straight. Alex Rios added two hits and an RBI.

Trevor Cahill (9-4) pitched seven innings in the start for Oakland, surrendering three runs (two earned) on only four hits and two walks. It was just his second loss in his last 13 starts, with the A's going 10-3 in that time.

Oakland won five of its nine matchups with the White Sox a year ago.

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Betting Football

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.