05/08/2008 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dioner Navarro belted a grand slam as part of a five-run 13th frame, leading Tampa Bay past Toronto, 8-3, in a lengthy extra- inning affair at Rogers Centre.
A game going on at a brisk pace came to a streaking halt in the bottom of the ninth. Troy Percival finally squandered runs, surrendering a two-run home run to Vernon Wells, and the tying run in Toronto's at-bat.
Percival had not allowed a run in 11 innings before stepping onto the mound Thursday night. He allowed a Scott Rolen single before striking out Matt Stairs. Wells then hammered a 2-0 fastball over the right-field fence to trim the Blue Jays' deficit to 3-2.
Lyle Overbay then doubled, but the game was still in Percival's right hand. Just-recalled Joe Inglett pinch-ran for Overbay, and his speed tied the game. Percival sawed off Aaron Hill, who served a low-and-away pitch over the second baseman's head into center field. B.J. Upton came up throwing, but his two- hopper was just late, allowing Inglett to slide in safely for a 3-3 game.
Toronto threatened to win in the 10th. Alex Rios drove a pitch past Upton in center and scampered to third for a triple. Shannon Stewart was called out on strikes and Rolen was intentionally walked to set up a double play. Stairs struck out before Wells was pitched around for a walk to load the bases. Dan Wheeler escaped by striking out pinch-hitter Rod Barajas.
The Rays ended the game in the 13th frame. Jason Bartlett and Akinori Iwamura each singled and Carl Crawford drove home Bartlett with a sacrifice fly. Upton singled and Carlos Pena was intentionally walked. One out later, Navarro capped the explosion with a grand slam to right-center.
J.P. Howell (1-0) got the victory after throwing three scoreless innings of relief, while Shawn Camp (0-1) was saddled with the loss after pitching the 13th and allowing all five runs.
Edwin Jackson pitched an eight-inning gem for the Rays, allowing just six hits with three strikeouts and no walks. His counterpart Jesse Litsch surrendered three runs on five hits with a pair of strikeouts over seven frames.
The Rays went in front with a pair of runs in the fifth. Navarro singled with two outs and Gabe Gross followed with a two-run shot out to right. Tampa Bay added an insurance tally in the seventh on Pena's lead-off home run, his eighth of the season.
Game Notes
Toronto placed shortstops David Eckstein (strained right hip flexor) and John McDonald (sprained right ankle) on the 15-day disabled list Thursday. Both players were injured in a loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday with the DL stints made retroactive to Wednesday. The club called up the infielder Inglett from Triple-A Syracuse to take one of the roster spots...The game took four hours, four minutes...Attendance was 21,118.
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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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