Tigers eye series win over White Sox

Baseball Betting Lines

09/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers try to play spoiler this afternoon and go for a series win when they wrap up a four-game set against the playoff hopeful Chicago White Sox at Comerica Park.

The White Sox won the first seven games of their 10-game road trip, but have lost the last two portions of this series to the Tigers, being outscored 14-2 in the process.

On Wednesday the Tigers got back to .500, as Jeremy Bonderman pitched eight brilliant innings and Alex Avila hit a key two-run double, helping Detroit to a 5-1 win.

Bonderman (8-9) turned in perhaps his best start of the season. He matched a season high in innings pitched and struck out eight, while allowing just one run on three hits and a walk.

"Obviously they're a great team, they're in the position to make the playoffs," Bonderman said. "We're just trying to go out and play good baseball day in and day out. Doesn't matter who you play."

Avila's double came in a four-run fourth inning, during which Brandon Inge hit a two-run single. Ryan Raburn added two hits and scored twice for the Tigers, who have won the last two games in the set after dropping Monday's opener.

John Danks (13-10) took the loss after allowing five runs -- two earned -- in six innings. He gave up eight hits and walked three.

Omar Vizquel homered to provide the lone run for the White Sox, who fell to 5 1/2 games behind the AL Central-leading Twins after Minnesota beat Kansas City later Wednesday.

"We feel like we still have a chance," Danks said. "We're kind of shooting ourselves in the foot a little bit. The last couple nights we haven't been playing very well."

Following today's finale Chicago will start a nine-game homestand that will include a visit from the Twins.

Getting the call for the White Sox this afternoon will be right-hander Gavin Floyd, who has been terrific in his last three starts (2-1). Floyd earned a win on Saturday in Boston, holding the Red Sox to a runs and five hits in six innings to run his record to 10-11, while lowering his earned run average to 3.78.

Floyd, who has allowed just five runs in his last three starts spanning 19 2/3 innings, has been terrific in his career against the Tigers, posting a perfect 5-0 record to go along with a 3.20 ERA in 13 starts.

Detroit, meanwhile, will counter with Rick Porcello, who has won his last three starts and is 8-11 on the season with a 5.20 ERA. Porcello's latest win came on Saturday in Kansas City, as he limited the Royals to four runs and seven hits in seven innings.

While Floyd has had success against the Tigers, Porcello has had nothing but bad luck against his opponent, going 0-4 in five starts against Detroit with an 8.67 ERA.

Chicago is 5-3 in Detroit this season.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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