09/05/2008 - Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Braden and the Oakland bullpen held down the Baltimore offense, while the Athletics finally took advantage of suspect pitching in an 11-2 rout over the Orioles in a rain-soaked opener of a three-game weekend series.
Braden (5-3) allowed just two runs -- one earned -- on four hits in five innings, while Jerry Blevins, Joey Devine, Keith Foulke and Brad Ziegler combined to throw four scoreless relief innings in the win.
Rajai Davis hit his first career grand slam, as Oakland halted its four-game skid behind a mere seven hits. Jack Hannahan and Eric Patterson were each credited with two RBI.
Baltimore rookie Chris Waters (2-2) took the loss after serving up three runs on five hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings of work. Lou Montanez was 2- for-3, driving in a run and scoring for the Orioles, who have dropped seven straight affairs.
Before the game, the Orioles exercised manager Dave Trembley's 2009 option with an added team option in 2010.
Tied at 2-2 in the sixth, Waters was pulled in favor of Brian Bass after loading the bases. Bass, who was acquired earlier in the day from the Minnesota Twins for a player to be named or cash considerations, proceeded to walk in the go-ahead run before getting out of the inning.
The A's broke open the game in the eighth, recording eight runs while tallying just a lone hit -- Davis' slam. Two walks and a hit by pitch loaded the bases for Hannahan, who walked to plate a run. Brian Burres was replaced by Kameron Mickolio, who promptly forced in another three with free passes.
"I don't have any answers to be honest with you. I don't have any magic formula, I don't have any catch phrase, I don't have a quick fix," Trembley said. "You have to be able to throw it over the plate. It's that simple."
Randor Bierd mercifully relieved Mickolio, but Davis, who entered the game as a pinch-runner earlier in the inning, smoked a two-out drive down the left field line that barely cleared the left field wall to finish off the improbable inning.
"I was ready to hit and I got a good pitch to hit and was able to square it up and drive it a little bit," Davis said. "It's nice to score some runs and take the pressure off the pitchers. It was fun."
The O's broke a scoreless tie in the third when Montanez reached on an infield single, advanced to second on a botched pickoff attempt and scored on Brian Roberts' two-out bloop single to center.
Waters was cruising through four frames but loaded the bases with the first three hitters in the fifth. The A's then took the lead on Patterson's RBI groundout and Sweeney's sac fly, but the home team tied it in the bottom half on Montanez's run-scoring, opposite-field double.
Game Notes
The A's had scored six runs or less in their previous 40 games...The clubs will finish the three-game series with a doubleheader Saturday...The O's made several moves other Friday, selecting the contracts of Bass, catcher Omir Santos and pitcher Alfredo Simon from Triple-A Norfolk, while recalling infielder Brandon Fahey from their minor league affiliate. Santos made his MLB debut as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning and grounded out to end the game. To make room on the roster, the club released pitcher Fernando Cabrera, designated infielder Eider Torres for assignment and transferred pitcher Chris Ray from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day DL...Baltimore's Aubrey Huff missed the game to be with his wife, Baubi, following the birth of their first child on Thursday...Bass became the 400th pitcher used in a game for the Orioles all-time.
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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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