Granderson, Yanks win seventh straight

Baseball Betting Lines

09/03/2010 - Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Curtis Granderson doubled twice and drove in three runs, as New York beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-3, in the opener of a three-game series at Yankee Stadium.

Brett Gardner hit an RBI triple and scored three runs for the Yankees, who have won seven games in a row to match a season-high set from July 3-9.

New York rookie Ivan Nova did not figure in the decision after allowing three runs and six hits over 4 2/3 innings. A quartet of relievers combined to not allow a hit the rest of the way, with Kerry Wood (3-4) being credited with the win.

The Yankees increased their lead in the AL East to two games over Tampa Bay, which plays at Baltimore later Friday.

Travis Snider went 2-for-5 with a solo home run for Toronto, which has dropped four of five.

Brandon Morrow (10-7), who made his final start of the season, gave up five runs on six hits and three walks in just three innings. Morrow suffered his first loss since June 29 at Cleveland. He had gone 5-0 with a 3.88 earned run average over his previous nine outings.

The Blue Jays are shutting down the former reliever because he has reached his innings limit for the season.

Snider's ninth home run of the season staked Toronto to a 1-0 lead in the first, but the Yankees countered with a pair of two-run frames.

Gardner and Granderson both walked to open the bottom of the first. Mark Teixeira followed with a run-scoring double. Granderson then scored on a groundout by Robinson Cano.

Granderson plated a pair with a two-out double in the second.

Ramiro Pena singled home Jorge Posada to give the Yankees a four-run lead in the third, but Toronto cut its deficit to 5-3 in the fourth.

One run came home when Lyle Overbay and Aaron Hill hit consecutive doubles to begin the inning. Hill eventually scored on a John McDonald sacrifice fly.

The Yankees restored their four-run cushion in the sixth. Gardner knocked in Eduardo Nunez with a triple, then Granderson followed with a run-scoring double.

Game Notes

The Yankees have also won seven straight home games...New York finished 6- for-15 with runners in scoring position...Toronto has still won seven of 13 meetings with New York this season.

Mscauslot Baseball Betting News

<< Rapids not taking Chivas for granted
Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rapids will continue their playoff push on Saturday when they host Western Conference cellar-dwellars, Chivas USA at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Colorado enters the weekend in fifth p

<< SEC, Nashville agree to multi-year deal to host hoops tournament
Birmingham, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Southeastern Conference and the Nashville Sports Council agreed to play the SEC men's basketball tournament at Bridgestone Arena in 2015, 2016 and 2019. The event will now be held at the arena

<< L.A. wants better effort against Chicago
Bridgeview, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Landon Donovan and manager Bruce Arena both agreed after last week's loss to the Kansas City Wizards that the Los Angeles Galaxy were "outcompeted." Davy Arnaud had a goal and an assist to lead K.C. to a 2

<< Eagles trade for OL Wells, cut 10; Abiamiri to PUP
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Eagles have traded for Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman Reggie Wells, the team announced Friday. The 29-year-old Wells, who was acquired in exchange for an undisclosed 2011 draft

<< Twins promote P Fox, two others
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins have purchased the contract of pitcher Matt Fox from Triple-A Rochester. The right-hander is slated to start Friday's series opener against the Texas Rangers. It will be his major

NCAA reverses decision; Masoli to play for Ole Miss in 2010 >>
Oxford, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli will be able to play for the Ole Miss Rebels this season after the NCAA overturned a previous decision that stated the signal-caller must sit out a year. Masoli enro

Diamondbacks bring up veteran P Hampton >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Diamondbacks purchased the contract of 15-season veteran Mike Hampton on Friday from Triple-A Reno. Hampton was signed by the club on August 21 after making 21 starts for Houston last season, going

Columbus signs Peru forward Mendoza >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew signed Peru forward Andres Mendoza on Friday. Mendoza, 32, made his debut for Peru in 1999 and still plays for his country. He has seven goals in 44 games. At the club level, Mendoza has p

DeWitt, Soriano both homer as Cubs top Mets >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Blake DeWitt's three-run homer in the sixth provided the difference, and the Cubs began a weekend series against the Mets with a 7-6 victory at Wrigley Field. DeWitt hit his fourth home run in just 30 game

Houston tries to build momentum against San Jose >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The playoff hopes of the Houston Dynamo continue to slip away as the club gets set to host the San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday at Robertson Stadium. Houston snapped a 10-game winless skid with a 4-3 wi

College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.