A's Cahill puts unbeaten streak on the line against Orioles

Baseball Betting Lines

07/01/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oakland Athletics young starter Trevor Cahill is making a case for the American League All-Star team and will try to keep his unbeaten streak intact tonight against the Baltimore Orioles in the finale of a three- game series from Camden Yards.

Cahill is 6-0 with a 2.24 earned run average in his last eight starts with the opposition batting only .198 over that streak. Cahill's run is a career best and he has yet to allow a run in the first inning this season. He previously pitched in Saturday's 5-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates and held them scoreless through 7 2/3 innings with a career-high 10 strikeouts.

The right-hander, whose last loss came on May 16 against the LA Angels of Anaheim, beat the Orioles on the road this season on May 26. Cahill lasted six innings and gave up one run to improve to 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA in three career starts against Baltimore. In 12 total starts this season, Cahill is 7-2 with a 2.88 earned run average.

Baltimore will send out a young hurler of its own for Thursday's series finale, as Jake Arrieta is slated to make his fifth career start. Arrieta broke out on the scene with consecutive wins, but is 0-1 with a 12.27 earned run average in his last two trips to the hill.

Arrieta did not record a decision versus Washington last Friday, when he gave up six runs -- five earned -- and eight hits over 4 1/3 innings of his team's 7-6 win. Overall, the righty is 2-1 with a 6.20 ERA and 1-0 in two home starts. Arrieta has never faced the Pirates.

The Orioles hope Arrieta can stay unbeaten at home as they try to win their second straight series after beating Oakland, 9-6, in Wednesday's second portion of this three-game set. After the A's took a 6-3 lead with a six-run fourth inning, the homer parade started with Ty Wigginton belting a two-run shot and Luke Scott adding a solo homer in the seventh.

Baltimore then closed out the scoring for a 9-6 advantage thanks to Miguel Tejada's two-run shot in the eighth. Corey Patterson and Adam Jones also went deep and Matt Albers was credited with the win for tossing a scoreless inning of relief. Kevin Millwood started and yielded six runs -- five earned -- on eight hits in six frames for the no-decision.

Alfredo Simon then closed the door in the ninth for his 10th save.

"We're trying to continuously play hard," Jones said. "Play the game we all know. All we can do is leave it on the field. Everybody wants to win, so we're going out there and giving all we got."

After today's game versus the Athletics, Baltimore will hit the road for 10 games against Boston, Detroit and Texas.

Oakland has lost 11 of its last 17 games and had a four-game winning streak come to an end with yesterday's 9-6 loss. Coco Crisp hit a three-run homer during a six-run fourth inning and Mark Ellis finished 3-for-4 with a run scored for the A's, who will visit Cleveland for three games after this set.

"This was a really frustrating loss," Ellis said. "We scored some runs ... When we score runs, we usually win games, and this was a tough one for us. We've got another one tomorrow, and we can still win the series."

Athletics starter Ben Sheets lasted six innings and gave up four runs -- three earned -- on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts in the no- decision. Cedrick Bowers was tagged with the loss.

Oakland has won six of nine meetings with Baltimore this season and is 16-4 in the previous 20 contests between the clubs.

Vagess Baseball Betting News

<< Yanks, Sabathia aim to avoid sweep at hands of Mariners
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red-hot Yankees ace CC Sabathia puts his five-start winning streak and unblemished home record on the line this afternoon against the Seattle Mariners in the finale of a three-game series from the Bronx. Sabathia has pitch

<< Jays, Marcum hope to avoid brooms in Cleveland
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Blue Jays were left without an ace when they traded Roy Halladay this past offseason, but Shaun Marcum has wasted little time claiming ownership of the title. Marcum will try to prevent his Toronto squad from getting s

<< Zvonareva reaches Wimbledon final
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russian Vera Zvonareva landed in her first career Grand Slam final on Thursday by overcoming upstart Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova in semifinal action at Wimbledon 2010. The 21st-seeded Zvonareva's oppon

<< Ex-NHLer Hinote joins Blue Jackets staff
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -Former NHL veteran Dan Hinote (HIGH'-note) has been hired as an assistant coach by the Columbus Blue Jackets.The club announced the hiring on Thursday. Hinote helped the Colorado Avalanche win the 2001 Stanley Cup.Hinote will be

<< Report: Bucks reach deal with Gooden
Sunnyvale, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Bucks have reportedly reached an agreement on a multi-year contract with forward Drew Gooden, just hours after the NBA free agency period began. According to Yahoo! Sports, Gooden has

Pavano goes for Twins in opener with Rays >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - An injury on Wednesday forced the Twins to go to their bullpen a little earlier then they might have needed to. With Carl Pavano set to start tonight versus the Rays, Minnesota's relief group might get rewarded with some mor

Santana leads Mets into series opener at Nationals Park >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Johan Santana tries to avoid a third straight loss this evening when the New York Mets begin a four-game series with the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Santana has actually lost three of his last four out

Giants kick off road trip in Colorado >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants hope to avoid a sixth straight loss this evening, as they kick off an 11-game road trip with the first of four games against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. The Giants managed to bea

Red-hot Rangers go for another series win in Anaheim >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - As Josh Hamilton and the Texas Rangers turn the page on an outstanding June, the arrival of Vladimir Guerrero's old team has him getting in on the offensive act as well. Hamilton and Guerrero will attempt to lead their cl

Cardinals, Brewers renew rivalry at Busch Stadium >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals are once again on the outside looking in when it comes to the National League Central Division. Tonight they'll open a four-game series with the rival Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium

SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.