Rangers try to deal spiraling Tigers a seventh straight loss

Baseball Betting Lines

07/20/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tommy Hunter hopes to deliver Texas' first series win in Detroit since 2007 this evening, when the Rangers play the middle test of their three-game set with the Tigers at Comerica Park.

Texas had lost 11 straight in Detroit before Nelson Cruz's two-run homer in the 14th inning propelled the Rangers to an 8-6 win in Monday's opener. Ian Kinsler provided a two-run homer and three RBI, while Josh Hamilton had four hits and drove in a run as the Rangers pounded out 19 hits to win for the fourth time in five contests overall and the 13th time in their last 16 on the road.

With another victory tonight, the Rangers would claim their first series win in Detroit since taking two of three from the Tigers in June of 2007.

Enrique Gonzalez (0-1) walked Hamilton with one out in the 14th before Cruz sent a 1-2 offering to the opposite field that landed barely over the wall in right for his 12th homer of the season. Cruz, who had three hits and four RBI, has gone 12-for-23 with 10 runs driven in over his last five games.

"It was a good feeling, especially since we had a hard time driving in a run after the seventh inning," Cruz said. "It was good to get that."

Matt Harrison (2-1) allowed two hits over four innings to get the win and Neftali Feliz recorded his 25th save, tying Kansas City's Joakim Soria for the American League lead.

Miguel Cabrera homered twice and drove in three runs for Detroit, but the Tigers dropped their season-high sixth straight game. Detroit also lost third baseman Brandon Inge, who suffered a non-displaced fracture of the fifth metacarpal bone after getting hit with a pitch in the left hand during the game. He will miss the next 4-to-6 weeks.

"When you're going good you get them in and when you're not you don't," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "We had some opportunities to do that, but we didn't do that [Monday]. It's part of struggling."

The Rangers hope to keep rolling tonight as Hunter tries to go 7-0 on the year. The 24-year-old beat Boston on Thursday, holding the Red Sox to a pair of runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings to become the first Texas starter to begin a season 6-0 since Esteban Loaiza in 1999.

Hunter, who beat the Tigers the only other time he faced them, has held opponents to two earned runs or fewer in seven of his eight outings and has pitched to a 2.39 earned run average on the season.

Detroit, meanwhile, recalled righty Armando Galarraga to make the start tonight. Galarraga, who nearly threw a perfect game earlier in the season, was optioned to Triple-A Toledo earlier in the month because the Tigers did not have the need for a fifth starter until now. He is 3-2 with a 4.45 ERA on the year.

Galarraga has faced the Rangers three times and is 2-1 with a 3.60 ERA against them.

Texas has won three of its five matchups with the Tigers this season after losing seven of the nine meetings a year ago.

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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.