Parra tries to get on track against Nats

Baseball Betting Lines

07/24/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lefty Manny Parra can end a personal two-start losing streak while giving Milwaukee a second straight win tonight when the Brewers host the Washington Nationals in the middle game of a three-game series at Miller Park.

On Friday, Jim Edmonds entered as an injury replacement for Corey Hart early in the game and went 2-for-3 with three RBI, including the go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning, to lift Milwaukee to a 7-5 win.

Alcides Escobar went 3-for-4 with a run scored for the Brewers, who scored six unanswered runs to come away with the victory following a 4-4 road trip.

Kameron Loe (1-1) was credited with the win for throwing two scoreless innings, while Sean Burnett (0-5) took the loss for serving up Edmonds' homer.

Parra, a double-digit winner in each of the past two seasons, has plunged to 3-7 with losses in his two most recent 2010 starts, allowing 20 hits and 16 runs in just 10 1/3 innings against San Francisco and Atlanta.

Previously, he'd strung together his only win streak of the year, defeating Minnesota on June 23 and St. Louis on July 3 with a no-decision in between against Houston.

The 27-year-old has split time between starting and relieving this season, beginning 10 games and coming in from the bullpen 17 times. in his initial 68 big-league outings since a 2007 debut, Parra had started 58 times.

He is 1-1 in seven career games against Washington, including three relief appearances in three days in mid-April, when he allowed three hits over 1 2/3 innings.

For the Nationals, righty J.D. Martin makes his ninth appearance of the season and the third of his career against Milwaukee.

The 27-year-old has managed just one win in six decisions in 2010 after winning five times in 15 starts as a rookie with Washington last year. He dropped four straight before recording victory No. 1 on July 7 against San Diego, but fell, 7-2, at Cincinnati on July 19 after allowing six hits and six runs in 5 1/3 innings.

He is winless in two career starts against Milwaukee with a 6.39 earned run average in 12 2/3 innings.

The Nationals took two of three from the Brewers at home from April 16-18, but have lost in 10 of their last 12 visits to Miller Park.

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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.