Giants' Torres caps big game with winning hit in 10th

Baseball Betting Lines

07/28/2010 - San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andres Torres capped his four-hit day with a deep bases-loaded single in the 10th inning, lifting the Giants to a 10-9 win over the Florida Marlins at AT&T Park.

Torres added a two-run homer and Juan Uribe had three hits and drove in four runs for San Francisco, which is putting pressure on NL West-leading San Diego by winning six of its last seven games. Buster Posey extended his hitting streak to 21 games for the Giants, who won despite blowing a 9-2 lead after six innings.

Dan Uggla homered for the sixth time in as many games and tied the contest with an RBI double with two outs in the ninth inning. He has 143 homers for his career, tying the Marlins team record set by Mike Lowell. Pinch-hitter Donnie Murphy added a three-run homer and Ronny Paulino clubbed a solo shot for the Marlins.

Hanley Ramirez singled and Logan Morrison doubled with one out in the ninth inning. A groundout by Gaby Sanchez scored Ramirez with two outs. Uggla, facing a 3-2 count against closer Brian Wilson, slugged a ground-rule double to the gap in left-center field. Pinch-hitter Wes Helms struck out swinging to end the inning.

The Giants had a rally thwarted in the bottom of the ninth after putting two men on base, but capitalized in the 10th against Clay Hensley (1-4). Aaron Rowand singled to left field and Edgar Renteria followed by hitting a ball that bounced off the chest of third baseman Murphy. Nate Schierholtz singled sharply to right field and Torres followed by taking the first pitch deep to left-center field to end the game.

Jonathan Sanchez was charged with seven hits and five runs over six-plus innings, but fanned seven batters in the start for the Giants. Chris Ray (2-0) picked up the victory by retiring the side in order in the top of the 10th.

Florida's Alex Sanabia was shelled for nine hits and seven runs over two-plus innings.

The Giants totaled six hits in the first inning, including RBI singles from Aubrey Huff and Rowand, and a two-run base hit from Uribe.

Morrison doubled in Ramirez in the third, but the Giants got a two-run triple from Uribe in the bottom of the frame, and he then scored on a Jorge Sosa wild pitch.

Paulino homered in the fourth, but Torres went deep in the sixth to provide the 9-2 margin.

Murphy homered off Sanchez in the seventh, and Uggla went deep against Denny Bautista later in the inning to get the visitors within 9-7.

Game Notes

The Giants have won 18 games so far this month and with two more victories, they'll have their first 20-win month since September 2000...Posey's streak is the second-longest by a rookie in San Francisco-era history behind Hall of Famer Willie McCovey's 22-gamer in 1959. Benito Santiago holds the major league rookie record for hitting safely in 34 straight games in 1987. The longest consecutive game hitting streak in San Francisco era history (since 1958) is held by Jack Clark, who hit safely in 26 games in 1978...San Francisco swept a three-game set from the Marlins earlier in the year and has won seven of the last nine meetings in the series.

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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.