AL West: Rangers' bats starting to flex some muscle

Baseball Betting Lines

06/15/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Conventional wisdom suggests it was only a matter of time before the Texas Rangers' offense really got going.

After all, this was an offense that ranked second in the American League in home runs last year, and that was before adding eight-time All-Star Vladimir Guerrero in the offseason. Having won five of their last six games entering Tuesday's off day, the Rangers are no doubt starting to live up to the hype.

And make no mistake, it is the offense that has been the catalyst during the team's recent surge, having averaged 8.3 runs in their nine victories this month. On the season, the Rangers' .277 team batting average ranks third in the majors. They rank fifth overall in runs (321), hits (601) and RBI (303).

Third baseman Michael Young is one hit away from tying former catcher Ivan Rodriguez as the club's all-time leading hitter. Young now has 1,746 base knocks, thanks to his current eight-game hitting streak. Over the last four games, Young has gone 9-for-21.

However, Young isn't the only one swinging a red-hot bat at the moment. In fact, Josh Hamilton, Vladimir Guerrero and Julio Borbon all currently have hitting streaks of at least 10 games.

Hamilton is 15-for-37 (.405) during his 10-game hit streak, and that includes home runs in four of the last five games. On the season, he is now hitting .309 with 15 homers and 46 RBI.

Guerrero has hit safely in 11 straight games, posting a .348 average (16- for-46) in that time frame. Borbon also has an 11-game hit streak, during which he is hitting .474 (18-for-38) to raise his average from .233 to .285.

In addition, shortstop Elvis Andrus is having a breakout year, as evidenced by the fact that he ranks second among American League shortstops behind the Yankees' Derek Jeter. The second-year player is sporting a .295 batting average to go along with 19 RBI and 18 stolen bases.

A hot June has pushed Hamilton into the All-Star conversation, as the Rangers' left fielder is hitting .412 with six homers and 19 RBI in 13 games this month. According to the most recent polls, he trails teammate Nelson Cruz by 87,000 votes for the third outfield spot on the American League roster. Cruz has been out since late-May with a torn hamstring, which has certainly helped Hamilton in his bid for a third consecutive All-Star start.

He has also been helped by a different approach in pre-game batting practice. Like Mark McGwire of the mid-90s, Hamilton has become known for putting on a show of mammoth home runs in BP. But lately, he has changed his mind set in that regard.

"(Batting practice) is not for a show," Hamilton said. "It's for working on things. Things you do in the cage carry over into batting practice. And then it's trying to work on the same things in batting practice. And then, when the game comes along, just go up there and hit it. Trust yourself."

Of course, that's not the only adjustment that has helped Hamilton. Swing- wise, he has eliminated the toe-tap and is working on keeping his weight on his back leg to generate more power. Lineup-wise, he is hitting .385 since being switched from third to fifth in the lineup, behind cleanup hitter Guerrero.

Thanks in no small part to the middle of the order, Texas (35-28) entered Wednesday with a one-game lead over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for first place in the AL West.

A'S GET OFF TO ROCKY START IN INTERLEAGUE PLAY

Over the weekend, the Oakland Athletics (32-33) were swept in a three-game set by their friends across the bay, the San Francisco Giants. The sweep dropped the A's below .500 for the first time since May 21, and also put them four games behind division-leading Texas.

For the most part, they'll want to put that series behind them. In the three games against San Francisco, the A's committed four errors and stranded 27 baserunners (4-for-32 RISP). Struggling utility player Jake Fox, who was sporting a .214 batting average since being acquired from the Cubs in a five- player deal in December, was designated for assignment following Sunday's 6-2 loss.

Oakland continues its interleague stretch Tuesday night against the Chicago Cubs, who have endured their own struggles of late. It marks Oakland's first trip to Chicago's Wrigley Field since 2004, the only other time these two teams met in the regular season.

ANGELS' AYBAR DAY-TO-DAY AFTER COLLISION

During the second inning of Monday's 12-2 loss to Milwaukee, Angels shortstop Erick Aybar hyper-extended his left knee after bearing the brunt of a hard slide at second base. Aybar had to be helped off the field by team trainers, however the good news is his injury is listed as day-to-day.

Considering the Angels have already lost first baseman Kendry Morales for the season, an extended absence from their leadoff man and shortstop would have presented quite a hurdle. Thankfully for the Angels, it appears they've dodged a bullet.

"It looked bad when it happened," manager Mike Scioscia told The Orange County Register after the game. "But after the game it was examined. Everything sets up much better right now. He's walking around a little. We're relieved to see him walking around in this clubhouse. Hopefully, it'll be a little strain and he won't be out for too long."

Aybar had been heating up at the plate of late, batting .393 over his previous 14 games. He had a four-game multi-hit streak entering Sunday. Thanks in part to Aybar's hot bat, the Angels (36-31) are 10-4 in the month of June as they trail the Rangers by just one game.

MARINERS CONTINUE TO FREEFALL

Since winning the first three games of June, the Seattle Mariners (24-40) have gone an abysmal 2-9 to fall further out of contention in the AL West. And with each passing road trip, the Mariners dig themselves a deeper hole.

They are now just 9-23 away from home, and their current 10-game trek concludes when they wrap up a three-game set in St. Louis on Wednesday. Seattle entered Tuesday 11 1/2 games back in the division after opening the Cardinals series with a 9-3 setback on Monday night.

The team will get a much needed rest on Thursday, which wraps up a grueling stretch of 20 games in 20 days. Despite the Mariners' ongoing offensive struggles, manager Don Wakamatsu decided to cancel batting practice prior to Monday's series opener with his team arriving in town at midnight on Sunday night.

"We've worked extremely hard and taken a lot of extra batting practice to try to get this offense going," Wakamatsu said. "You start to see where some of these guys, physically, are getting pretty exhausted. We knew there was going to be quite a bit of humidity (in St. Louis), and add the time change and it's very difficult."

On Saturday night, veterans Cliff Lee, Milton Bradley and Chone Figgins called a players-only meeting following the team's 7-1 loss to the San Diego Padres. That loss was Seattle's fifth straight and eighth in its last nine outings. The meeting seemed to pay immediate dividends with a 4-2 win at San Diego on Sunday. But Monday in St. Louis, it was back to the loss column for the fading Mariners.

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Sportsbooks to bet on football

Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.

He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.

"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.

He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.

Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.

Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.

Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.

Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.

With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.

Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).

And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)

The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.

While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.

Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.

One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.

Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.

What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.

That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.

MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.

"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.

"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."

So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.

In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.

MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.

The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.

Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.

MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.

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