07/03/2009 - Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cincinnati third baseman Edwin Encarnacion was activated from the 60-day disabled list prior to Friday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Encarnacion had been on the DL since late April due to a chip fracture in his left wrist. He's hitting just .127 (8-for-63) in 19 games this season.
Encarnacion made 11 rehabilitation appearances at Triple-A Louisville and hit .270 with a pair of homers and eight RBI. At the time he was put on the DL by the parent club, Encarnacion was hitless in his last 12 at-bats and was mired in a 1-for-28 slump.
The Reds opened a roster spot for Encarnacion by placing infielder Danny Richar on the 15-day DL with a torn labrum in his left shoulder. He suffered the injury sliding head-first into home plate in the third inning of Wednesday's 1-0 win against Arizona.
<< Sturridge secures Chelsea switch
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Highly-rated Manchester City striker Daniel
Sturridge has completed his transfer to FA Cup winners Chelsea.
The 19-year-old, who has penned a four-year contract at Stamford Bridge, will
join up the rest
<< Owen agrees to join United
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Owen is determined to repay the
faith Sir Alex Ferguson has shown in him after penning a two-year contract
with Manchester United.
The 29-year-old moves to Old Trafford on a free transfer
<< NL Central: Astros creating a buzz
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros were one of the National League's
premier teams during the early part of this decade, capturing four division
titles during a five-year span from 1997-2001. A driving force behind that
impressive run was an
<< Gibbs commits future to Arsenal
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arsenal's England Under-21 international
Kieran Gibbs has pledged his long-term future to the club by putting pen to
paper on a new contract.
The 19-year-old made his debut for the Gunners almost two
Cano, A-Rod homer as Yankees top Toronto >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez each homered
as the New York Yankees doubled up Toronto, 4-2, in the opener of a four-game
set.
Mark Teixeira added a hit and an RBI for the Yankees, who have won eight of
D.C., Columbus clash for top spot in East >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United coach Tom Soehn was excited to have
last weekend off in MLS and thinks the Eastern Conference leaders are refreshed
for Saturday's trip to the Columbus Crew, even though they continued defense of
thei
Daytona qualifying rained out, Stewart awarded pole >>
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rain washed out Friday's qualifying
session for the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
A thundershower moved over the 2.5-mile track shortly before the start of
qualifying. Track
Bases-loaded walk sends Cubs over Brewers in 10 innings >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jake Fox drew a bases loaded walk, scoring
Ryan Theriot in the bottom of the 10th inning, as the Chicago Cubs edged the
Milwaukee Brewers, 2-1, in the second of a four-game set at Wrigley Field.
Theriot
The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards
The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)
But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)
Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.
The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.
Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.
Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.
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