Kouzmanoff, Gonzalez help A's top Royals

Baseball Betting Lines

07/16/2010 - Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Kouzmanoff drove in two runs and Gio Gonzalez tossed seven innings of one-run ball, as the Oakland Athletics handled the Kansas City Royals, 5-1, in the opener of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium.

Jack Cust and Mark Ellis each had an RBI for the Athletics, who have won three in a row since a four-game skid. Gonzalez (8-6) gave up seven hits to go with three strikeouts and one walk.

Alberto Callaspo had two hits for the Royals, who have lost four straight contests.

Zack Greinke (5-9) allowed five runs -- two earned -- on four hits in six innings to take the loss. He also walked four and struck out three. The 2009 AL Cy Young Award recipient had gone 4-0 with a 3.00 earned run average over his previous five starts. He had also lasted at least seven innings in each of those games.

The A's went ahead in the top of the first on Cust's sacrifice fly. Kansas City, though, got the run back in the home half. With runners on the corners and nobody out, David DeJesus plated a run when he grounded into a double play.

Oakland scored a run in the second to take a 2-1 lead. Kouzmanoff got things started with a double. Ellis then reached first on Greinke's throwing error, which allowed Kouzmanoff to score.

The Athletics opened things up with a three-run third. Cliff Pennington walked, Coco Crisp reached base on Yuniesky Betancourt's fielding error, and Kurt Suzuki walked to load the bases one out. After Cust popped out, Kouzmanoff hit a two-run single to center. Ellis followed with an RBI base hit for a 5-1 advantage.

The Royals failed to score after loading the bases in the fourth. Billy Butler singled, Jose Guillen walked and Callaspo singled to load the bases with nobody out. Gonzalez, though, settled down and retired the next three batters in order to keep it a four-run game.

Kansas City never threatened the rest of the way.

Game Notes

Oakland won six of eight bouts with Kansas City last season, including two of three games held at Kauffman Stadium...The A's were without outfielder Ryan Sweeney (right knee)...The Royals started a six-game homestand on Friday...Greinke fell to 4-1 lifetime against Oakland.

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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.