Rockies extend San Diego's losing streak to eight

Baseball Betting Lines

09/04/2010 - San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Giambi and Troy Tulowitzki each hit a two-run homer, as the Colorado Rockies dealt San Diego an eighth consecutive defeat, 4-3, in the opener of a three-game series.

Aaron Cook (5-8), who was activated off the disabled list to make the start, got the win after limiting the Padres to two runs on four hits and four walks in 6 1/3 innings.

The Rockies, who snapped a three-game skid, entered the weekend trailing the NL West-leading Padres by 7 1/2 games.

Meanwhile, San Diego's worst losing streak of the season continued with Friday's loss, but it did not lose any ground in the division. The Padres still hold a three-game lead over San Francisco because the Giants lost to Los Angeles on Friday.

Cory Luebke (0-1) made his major league debut for San Diego and pitched five innings in taking the loss. He walked two and allowed five hits, two of which were Colorado's home runs.

Luebke gave up Giambi's homer in the second inning, following a leadoff triple by Melvin Mora. The Rockies repeated that pattern in the third, when Carlos Gonzalez led off with a single before scoring on Tulowitzki's blast to center.

Armed with a 4-0 lead, Cook didn't run into serious trouble until the sixth, when he walked the bases loaded with one out. However, the Padres got only one run out of the situation, on a Chase Headley groundout. Will Venable popped out to end the threat.

But in the seventh, Chris Denorfia doubled with one away, prompting a pitching change. Samuel Deduno entered, but pinch-hitter Nick Hundley greeted him by blasting a homer to left field to bring the Padres within a run.

Deduno then walked David Eckstein before getting the second out of the inning before Franklin Morales was brought in to face Adrian Gonzalez, who singled. However, Rafael Betancourt entered and got the final out, then pitched a 1-2-3 eighth.

Huston Street pitched a scoreless ninth for his 14th save.

Game Notes

Carlos Gonzalez went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 11 games...Colorado leads the season series, 9-4...The Padres fell to 23-19 in one-run games...The losing streak is San Diego's longest since 2008, when it lost eight in a row from June 21-29.

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Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.

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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.