Jays top Tigers in 11 on Hill's base hit

Baseball Betting Lines

08/27/2010 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Hill drove in the game-winning run with a single in the 11th inning, as the Toronto Blue Jays snuck past the Detroit Tigers, 3-2, in the second test of a four-game series at Rogers Centre.

Adam Lind and Jose Bautista each homered for the Blue Jays, who bounced back from a 7-1 loss in the opener of this series.

Shaun Marcum went six innings in the start, allowing one run on eight hits. Shawn Camp (4-2) tossed two scoreless frames of relief to pick up the win.

Miguel Cabrera hit a solo homer for the Tigers, who had won six of seven. Johnny Damon tied the game in the ninth with an RBI single while starter Justin Verlander was solid in eight innings, allowing two runs on five hits with eight strikeouts.

Phil Coke (7-3) started on the mound for Detroit in the bottom of the 11th. After Lind went down looking, John Buck singled and Fred Lewis walked. John McDonald came on as a pinch-runner for Buck and crossed the plate on Hill's base hit to right-center.

Trailing 2-1, the Tigers scored a run off Kevin Gregg in the ninth to tie the game. Austin Jackson led off with a triple and scored two batters later on Damon's base hit to right. Detroit went on to strand runners on first and second.

Brad Thomas and Ryan Perry combined to pitch a scoreless home ninth to send the game into extras. Detroit left the bases loaded in the 10th, while the Blue Jays stranded men on first and second.

The Tigers stranded men on first and second in the first and second innings before Bautista broke a scoreless tie with his major league-leading 42nd homer in the fourth.

Detroit put men on first and second in the fifth, but Damon grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Cabrera tied the game in the top of the sixth with a homer off the left-field foul pole. The Tigers moved runners to second and third with two outs later in the frame. Alex Avila, though, flied out.

Toronto left men on second and third in the home sixth. With two outs, Yunel Escobar singled and Bautista doubled. Vernon Wells grounded out to end the threat.

Lind's homer to center in the seventh put the Blue Jays ahead 2-1.

The Tigers, who left men on first and second in the seventh, failed to take advantage of another scoring opportunity in the eighth. Brandon Inge hit a two-out triple to right, but Avila grounded out to end the frame.

Game Notes

Toronto and Detroit have split six meetings this season...Cabrera extended his hitting streak to 10 games...The Blue Jays lead the majors with 195 homers...The Tigers extended their working agreement with Connecticut (NYP) through the 2012 season...Detroit went 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position and stranded 16...Gregg suffered his fifth blown save of the season.

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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.