A's silence Rangers, take rubber match

Baseball Betting Lines

05/05/2010 - Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daric Barton finished 2-for-3 with an RBI as Oakland topped Texas, 4-1, in the rubber match of a three-game set.

Eric Patterson homered while Ryan Sweeney and Kevin Kouzmanoff also drove in runs for the Athletics, who took the series but won for just the fourth time in their last 11 games.

Trevor Cahill (1-1) earned his first win of the season by scattering five hits and one unearned run over five-plus innings. Andrew Bailey picked up his fifth save with a scoreless final frame.

Vladimir Guerrero drove in the lone run and Elvis Andrus collected a pair of hits for the Rangers, who dropped the final two games in the set after winning four in a row.

Colby Lewis (3-1) suffered his first setback of the season after being charged with five hits and three runs over six innings.

Already ahead by two, the A's picked up an insurance run off Darren Oliver in the seventh. Rajai Davis singled and advanced on a sacrifice bunt from Cliff Pennington, then stole third before Barton's single up the middle plated him.

Brad Ziegler sent down the side in order in the eighth, then Bailey did the same in the ninth to lock up the victory.

Oakland got on the board in the second, thanks to a pair of RBI groundouts from Sweeney and Kouzmanoff. Pennington got the frame started with a single then Barton stroked a ground-rule double to put two men in scoring position.

Patterson then led off the fifth with a blast to right-center for a 3-0 game.

Texas picked up a run in the sixth. Michael Young reached on Kouzmanoff's throwing error and Josh Hamilton singled, which put runners on the corners and brought the end to Cahill's outing for Tyson Ross.

Guerrero followed with a base hit to plate Young, but Ian Kinsler's double- play ball and a grounder from David Murphy kept it a 3-1 game.

Game Notes

Oakland had won 11 of the 19 meetings with Texas a year ago, and has taken four of the last six against the Rangers on the East Bay...Bailey has yet to allow a run this season and has worked 20 2/3 scoreless frames since last September 6...The A's improved to 8-3 in day games this season...Texas was held to two runs or fewer for just the second time in its last 15 contests.

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Super Bowl 2009 Betting

Super Bowl 2009 Betting propositions

Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.

Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.

Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.

If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.

Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.

By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.

In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.

So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.

While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.

There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.

In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:

SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.

XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.

XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.

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