Hits Leads Games For Base

Baseball Betting Lines

Headlining the NL pitching staff is a trio of Phillies starters in Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels. The San Francisco Giants will also send three starters in Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Ryan Vogelsong as well as their closer -- Brian Wilson. Also making the squad were Atlanta's Jair Jurrjens and the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw, while Heath Bell of the Padres, Tyler Clippard of the Nationals, Joel Hanrahan of the Pirates and Jonny Venters of the Braves will comprise the NL's bullpen.

 

Selected as bench players for the AL were: catchers Russell Martin of the Yankees and Matt Wieters of the Orioles, infielders Adrian Beltre of the Rangers, Asdrubal Cabrera of the Indians, Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers and Howie Kendrick of the Angels, outfielders Michael Cuddyer of the Twins, Jacoby Ellsbury of the Red Sox, Matt Joyce of the Rays and Carlos Quentin of the White Sox and designated hitter Michael Young of the Rangers.

 

Reigning AL Cy Young award winner Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners highlights the AL pitching staff. Other starters for the squad will be Josh Beckett of the Red Sox, Gio Gonzalez of the Athletics, David Price and James Shields of the Rays, Justin Verlander of the Tigers, Jered Weaver of the Angels and C.J. Wilson of the Rangers. The bullpen consists of the Royals' Aaron Crow, Seattle's Brandon League, Cleveland's Chris Perez, New York's Mariano Rivera and Detroit's Jose Valverde.

 

The National League choices are Andre Ethier of the Dodgers, Todd Helton of the Rockies, Ian Kennedy of the D-Backs, Michael Morse of the Nationals and Shane Victorino of the Phillies.

 

Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Thames, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion each homered off Cliff Lee in the eighth inning, as the Blue Jays salvaged the finale of their three-game interleague series against the Phillies with a 7-4 victory in comeback fashion. Lee came into the series finale fresh off throwing three consecutive shutouts and was trying to hold a 4-3 cushion in the eighth.

 

Jo-Jo Reyes settled down after giving up four runs in the second inning and kept it close long enough for Octavio Dotel (2-1) to earn the win in relief. Dotel recorded the final five outs to snap Toronto's three-game slide.

 

Jimmy Rollins had a two-run single in defeat, Philadelphia's second in seven games.

 

Rajai Davis was instrumental in the first two Toronto runs. He tripled leading off the third and scored on John McDonald's groundout; then, in the fifth, he singled, stole second and third and came in on Aaron Hill's two-out base hit.

 

Bautista, MLB's leading vote-getter for the All-Star game this season, scored on a Juan Rivera sacrifice fly in the sixth to make it a one-run game. Victorino caught the fly ball in center and tripped over his own feet to allow Bautista to trot home without a play at the plate.

 

Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Edgar Renteria and Chris Heisey hit solo home runs and the Cincinnati Reds avoided a sweep Sunday with a 7-5 victory over the Cleveland Indians in the finale of a three-game series. The Reds banged out 11 hits to finish a disappointing interleague schedule with a win, holding on over the last four innings after Renteria's homer made it 7-2 in the fifth.

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.