Byrd is the word: Rangers try for split with Indians

Baseball Betting Lines

07/22/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Having snapped a three-game slide on Saturday, the Texas Rangers close out a four-game set against the Cleveland Indians tonight at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Marlon Byrd erupted for five RBI, matching a career-high, as the Rangers brought home an 8-5 victory against Cleveland on Saturday. Michael Young and Mark Teixeira both scored a pair of runs for the home team as well. Designated hitter Sammy Sosa was not around to see the end of the game after being hit in the helmet with a pitch in the third inning.

Rangers starter Jamey Wright made it through just 3 1/3 innings, giving up three runs -- one earned -- on one hit with six walks and one strikeout. Ron Mahay picked up the win, permitting one run, two hits and striking out five in 2 2/3 innings of relief.

Cleveland starter Cliff Lee was saddled with the loss as he went 6 2/3 innings, allowing seven runs on eight hits with one walk and five strikeouts.

Grady Sizemore posted his 17th home run of the season for the Tribe, plating a pair of runs in the contest, while Ryan Garko picked up a pair of hits to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 15 games as the team had it's two- game win streak snapped.

A couple of former Phillies head to the mound for their respective teams this evening as Paul Byrd throws for the visiting Indians and Robinson Tejada goes for Texas.

Byrd, who is on his sixth different major league team in his 12th season in the majors, earned a victory against the Rangers in late April, but is still without a victory during the month of July versus any adversary.

On Tuesday the Louisiana State product was tagged for four runs on six hits over six innings of work versus the White Sox. While the Tribe eventually came away with the 6-5 victory, Byrd was left without a decision.

Despite his win earlier in the campaign, Byrd is still just 2-5 with a hefty 7.02 ERA against the Rangers all-time.

Tejada, who broke into the majors with Philadelphia a couple years back, has not logged a win since defeating Milwaukee during interleague action in early June. Most recently the right-hander threw 4 1/3 innings versus Oakland and while his three runs on four hits was somewhat acceptable, his six walks for the second time in the last three games was certainly not.

To this point in the season Tejada, who is getting his first look at Cleveland, has issued 55 bases-on-balls against just 65 strikeouts.

Over the last week of play Garko has been huge for the Tribe, picking up 12 hits, scored eight times and knocking in six runs. As a team Cleveland, which is now two games behind Detroit for first place in the American League Central, is hitting a strong .291 in the last seven games and averaging better than five runs per outing.

The Rangers, last in the AL West while playing 13 games under .500, are hitting a collective .256 over the last week and while Byrd has boosted his RBI total to a team-best eight, he is still batting just .226 during that span.

Prior to Saturday's loss, the Tribe had won every meeting of the season versus Texas and six straight overall dating back to 2006.

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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.