Giants rally past Dodgers, close gap with Padres

Baseball Betting Lines

09/05/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Uribe hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to cap San Francisco's comeback, as the Giants edged the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-4, in the middle test of a three-game series.

The Giants trailed by four runs after six innings, but Buster Posey homered to begin the seventh. Edgar Renteria and Pat Burrell hit solo shots in the eighth to get the visitors within a run, and Uribe's one-out homer off Jonathan Broxton (5-5) put San Francisco on top.

Brian Wilson then pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth to earn the save for San Francisco, which rebounded from a loss in Friday's series opener and gained ground in the NL West. First-place San Diego dropped its ninth in a row earlier Saturday, and the Giants' win pulled them within two games.

Jay Gibbons hit a three-run homer for the Dodgers, who have lost five of seven.

Mlifw Baseball Betting News

<< Talbot gets elusive win as Indians edge Mariners
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mitch Talbot pitched into the seventh inning and won for the first time since late June, as the Indians held off the Seattle Mariners, 4-2, in the third installment of a four-game series. Talbot (9-1

<< No. 21 LSU escapes late charge from Yates, No. 18 UNC
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - T.J. Yates led 18th-ranked North Carolina to a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns and nearly a third on the final play of the game, but it wasn't enough for the short-handed Tar Heels, as No. 21 LSU barely

<< RSL equals longest home undefeated streak with win over N.Y.
Sandy, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake earned a 1-0 victory over Red Bull New York on Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium to equal the longest home undefeated streak in Major League Soccer history at 22 games. Fabian Espindola scor

<< Rams finish cuts; Adeyanju, Carpenter, Null all chopped
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Rams pared their roster to the 53-player maximum on Saturday, releasing 16 players to complete their "cut- down day" moves. Excised were defensive end Victor Adeyanju, wide receiver Danario A

<< Dalton leads TCU past Oregon State
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Dalton threw a touchdown and ran two in, including the go-ahead score in the third quarter, as sixth-ranked TCU downed No. 24 Oregon State, 30-21. Dalton went 17-for-27 with 175 yards and two interce

Runnin' over Rebels: Badgers win on strong ground game >>
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Clay ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns, as 12th-ranked Wisconsin used its ground game to take a resounding 41-21 win over UNLV in the teams' season-opener. Clay picked up right where he lef

Ishikawa wins playoff in Japan >>
Yamanashi, Japan (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryo Ishikawa knocked off Shunsuke Sonoda in a playoff Sunday to repeat as champion at the Fujisankei Classic. Ishikawa closed with a one-under 70, while Sonoda posted a four-under 67. They finished at ni

Tigers pin hopes on Galarraga in finale with Royals >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Streaking righty Armando Galarraga can stay perfect for his career against Kansas City today when the Detroit Tigers visit the Royals in the finale of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium. The Tigers won Friday's opener

Davis goes for seventh straight win in Baltimore >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wade Davis has been awfully tough to beat over the past two-plus months. Against the Baltimore Orioles, the Tampa Bay Rays pitcher has been just about invincible during his brief tenure in the majors. Davis tries to extend

White Sox target rare sweep at Fenway >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After putting what could be the final nail in the coffin in regards to the Boston Red Sox' playoff hopes with Saturday's performance, the Chicago White Sox now set their sights on earning their first series sweep in Fenway Pa

SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs.