Bonds-Dice K matchup to highlight Giants-Red Sox tilt

Baseball Betting Lines

06/16/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After nearly homering in his first-ever plate appearance at historic Fenway Park last night, Barry Bonds continues his assault on Hank Aaron's all-time record when his San Francisco Giants play the middle test of a three-game series with the Boston Red Sox this afternoon.

Bonds hit a towering drive off Red Sox starter Julian Tavarez well above the right-field foul pole in the first inning of Friday's 10-2 Boston victory. Following a brief consultation by the umpiring crew, the ball was ruled to be foul.

The superstar slugger ended up popping out in that at-bat and finished the game 1-for-3 with a single and a walk. Bonds remains eight homers shy of matching Aaron's historic mark of 755.

While Bonds' Fenway debut received all the pregame attention, Red Sox rookie Dustin Pedroia wound up as the contest's offensive star. The second baseman went 5-for-5 with a two-run homer and knocked in a career-high five RBI to spark Boston to the rout.

Pedroia's five hits were also a personal best and raised his season average to .331, tops among all rookies.

J.D. Drew added three hits, three RBI and three runs scored to help the Red Sox bounce back from consecutive home losses to Colorado on Wednesday and Thursday. Boston was outscored by a 19-3 margin in those defeats.

Tavarez (4-4) allowed six hits and two runs over seven innings, fanning three and walking two. His counterpart on Friday, Barry Zito, had a rough night on the mound for the Giants.

Zito (6-7) yielded seven runs (six earned) on five hits and issued four walks before being removed after 5 1/3 frames. It was the high-priced lefty's second consecutive defeat.

Today's game features an intriguing pitching matchup, as the struggling Daisuke Matsuzaka goes to the post for the Red Sox opposite Giants' hard-luck right-hander Matt Cain.

Cain has been the more effective pitcher of the pair this season, although the hard-throwing youngster has just two wins to his credit for the year. He's recorded a respectable 3.31 earned run average over 13 starts in 2007, but San Francisco has provided him with two or less runs of support in eight of those outings.

The 22-year-old was victimized by his offense once again on Sunday. Cain limited Oakland to a run and five hits while registering eight strikeouts over eight innings, but wound up on the wrong end of a 2-0 decision. He shut out the Athletics over the first seven frames before yielding a solo homer to Marco Scutaro in the eighth.

This will be the first career appearance against Boston for Cain, who has posted a 2.62 ERA in seven road starts this season.

In contrast, Matsuzaka has won seven games for the Red Sox so far despite bringing a 4.52 ERA into today's showdown. However, the Japanese sensation has also been hindered by his club's offense as of late.

Matsuzaka has taken a loss in each of his last three starts, although he's pitched well enough to win his two most recent times out. The right-hander held Arizona to two runs and four hits while fanning nine over six innings in a 5-1 loss on Sunday. Five days earlier, Matsuzaka gave up just two runs and struck out in seven innings, but got little help in a 2-0 setback at Oakland.

The 26-year-old is 3-2 with a 5.62 ERA in six Fenway Park starts this season.

Last night's encounter was the first meeting between the teams since 2004, when the Giants won two of three games from Boston in San Francisco.

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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.