Uggla sets club HR mark in Marlins' win over Padres

Baseball Betting Lines

07/31/2010 - San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Uggla became the Marlins all-time home run leader and Ricky Nolasco was solid in 8 1/3 innings on the mound, as Florida held off San Diego, 6-3, in the second test of a three-game set at Petco Park.

Nolasco (12-7), who took a no-hitter into the sixth, gave up three runs on five hits to win his third straight start. The right-hander also struck out seven and walked one to improve to 8-2 over 12 road starts this year.

Uggla hit a solo homer in the sixth for his 144th career homer, passing Mike Lowell on the club's all-time list. Mike Stanton hit a two-run homer for the Marlins, who have won three in a row. Gaby Sanchez had two RBI.

Adrian Gonzalez drove in two runs for the Padres, who lost, 4-2, in the opener of this series. Scott Hairston belted a solo homer in defeat.

Kevin Correia (7-7) went six frames in the start, allowing three runs on four hits to take the loss.

Stanton's two-run homer in the second put Florida on the board early. Uggla walked and crossed the plate two batters later on Stanton's blast to left- center field.

Uggla's record-setting homer in the top of the sixth gave the Marlins a 3-0 lead. Nolasco's bid for a no-hitter came to an end in the home sixth when Hairston led off the inning with a blast over the wall in left.

Florida added another run in the seventh to make it a 4-1 game. Tim Stauffer started the inning on the mound for the Padres and gave up a one-out single to Hanley Ramirez. Logan Morrison then lined the ball to left field, but Hairston dropped the ball. He committed another error when he failed to pick up the ball cleanly. Ramirez crossed the plate on the play.

San Diego's second hit of the game came in the eighth, as Nick Hundley reached base on an infield single. Nolasco, though, retired the next three batters.

Sanchez's two-run single off Ryan Webb in the top of the ninth made it a 6-1 game.

The Padres made things a bit interesting in the home ninth. With runners on second and third and one out, Gonzalez hit a two-run single to make it 6-3. Leo Nunez was called in from the bullpen to get out of the jam. He did just that to record his 26th save of the season.

Game Notes

The Padres have lost six in a row at home to the Marlins...Florida acquired pitcher Will Ohman from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for pitcher Rick VandenHurk...The St. Louis Cardinals acquired pitcher Jake Westbrook from the Cleveland Indians in a three-team trade that also involved San Diego. Along with Westbrook, St. Louis acquired cash from the Indians and minor league pitcher Nick Greenwood from the Padres. San Diego got outfielder Ryan Ludwick from the Cardinals, while the Indians received minor league pitcher Corey Kluber from the Padres...Florida has won five of seven and 11 of its last 15 overall...Nolasco improved to 3-2 lifetime against the Padres.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.