Angels take all three in Freeway Series vs. Dodgers

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06/13/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hideki Matsui finished 3-for-4 with two RBI as the Angels held on to top the Dodgers, 6-5, in the finale of a three-game interleague series from Dodger Stadium.

Bobby Abreu collected three hits, scored twice and drove in a run while Torii Hunter and Mike Napoli homered for the Angels, who swept the set and have won four of five overall.

Jered Weaver (6-3) yielded five hits and three runs with seven strikeouts over six innings for the win. Brian Fuentes turned in a scoreless ninth for his 10th save.

Manny Ramirez went 3-for-4 with two doubles and scored twice for the Dodgers, who had won four in a row prior to this weekend. James Loney added three hits and three RBI and Rafael Furcal homered in the setback.

Carlos Monasterios (3-1) suffered his first defeat of the season after allowing seven hits and four runs with three walks over just 2 2/3 frames.

Down 5-1, the Dodgers struck for a pair of runs in the home seventh to close the gap to two. Ramirez led off with a double and Loney doubled him in, signaling Weaver's exit for Kevin Jepsen. After two quick outs, Blake DeWitt plated Loney with a single.

Napoli's solo shot in the eighth gave the Halos a 6-3 cushion, but the home team responded with two more in the bottom half. Russell Martin drew a leadoff walk, advanced on a Ramirez single then both scored on Loney's double.

Fuentes walked pinch-hitter Casey Blake in the bottom of the ninth but Matt Kemp fanned swinging and Furcal grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.

The Angels picked up two in the first on RBI singles from Abreu and Matsui, and the Dodgers responded in the home half when Furcal led off with his second homer of the year.

Hunter's blast and Howie Kendrick's run-scoring double in the third pushed the visitors' edge to 4-1, then Matsui knocked in Abreu with a single in the fifth.

Game Notes

The Angels have won five of the last seven meetings with the Dodgers, and have won five of the last six at Chavez Ravine...It was the first time the Angels swept the Dodgers in LA since interleague play began in 1997...For Furcal, it was his 26th leadoff homer, and 14th as Dodger.

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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.