Blue Jays homer four times in rout of Twins

Baseball Betting Lines

05/18/2010 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Hill smacked a three-run home run as the Toronto Blue Jays dominated the Minnesota Twins, 11-2, to split a two-game set.

Lyle Overbay went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run and three RBI, Vernon Wells hit a solo home run and drove in two and Edwin Encarnacion hit a two-run home run for the Blue Jays, who have won five of six. Shaun Marcum (3-1) went seven innings in the start and was charged with just one run on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

Alexei Casilla and Jason Kubel each drove in a run for the Twins, who had a two-game win streak stopped. Carl Pavano (4-4) was tagged for six runs on 10 hits over four innings.

Toronto grabbed the lead in the first as a sacrifice fly from Wells was followed by an RBI double by Overbay for a 2-0 lead.

In the second, Jose Bautista was hit by a pitch to start the inning and Encarnacion followed by hitting a pitch off the top of the wall in left-center and over for a 4-0 lead.

In the third, Wells started the frame by drilling the first pitch he saw into the left field stands for a 5-0 lead.

Minnesota finally got on the board in the fourth when Michael Cuddyer led off with a triple and Kubel followed with a single to make it a 5-1 game.

Toronto, though, got the run back in the bottom of the fourth. Jose Molina reached first on an infield single to start the inning and Fred Lewis followed with a double. After Hill struck out, Adam Lind singled to right to easily score Molina, but Lewis was gunned down at home by Kubel.

Toronto blew the game wide open in the sixth. With one out, Molina and Lewis singled and Hill followed with a blast over the left field wall. After Jesse Crain entered the game, Wells reached base on an infield single, making it to third on an error from Crain, and Overbay made it an 11-1 game with his fourth home run of the season.

Casilla's pinch-hit, one-run triple in the eighth accounted for the final score.

Game Notes

Toronto has another two-game set with the Mariners in Seattle starting on Wednesday...Minnesota also has a two-game set in Boston beginning on Wednesday...Toronto has won 15 of the last 19 against Minnesota...Pavano is 3-5 in 10 appearances against Toronto...Marcum improved to 2-1 in four starts against Toronto...Encarnacion was activated from the 15-day disabled list prior to the game.

Wwwpchlotto Baseball Betting News

<< Li wins; Bartoli falls in Warsaw
Warsaw, Poland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded Li Na posted a win, while former Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli came up a first-round loser Tuesday at the $600,000 Warsaw Open, a final French Open tune-up. The Chinese Li got past

<< Barca signs Milito to one-year extension
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barcelona defender Gabriel Milito has agreed to a one-year contract extension. The 29-year-old Argentina international has overcome an injury-plagued start to life at the Camp Nou to become a first-

<< World Cup 2010 Preview: Capello leads rejuvenated England
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A disappointing exit in the quarterfinals of the 2006 World Cup was followed by a failure to qualify for Euro 2008, leaving English soccer fans to wonder how bad things could get. England's lone Wo

<< Sturm has successful knee surgery
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Bruins forward Marco Sturm underwent successful knee surgery on Tuesday. Sturm suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament and a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee in the

<< World Cup 2010 Preview: New faces up top for defending champ Italy
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the past eight years, names like Alessandro Del Piero, Filippo Inzaghi, Luca Toni and Francesco Totti have been responsible for the scoring duties of Italy's national team. Combined, they have made ove

Razzano moves on in Strasbourg >>
Strasbourg, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded French crowd favorite Virginie Razzano highlighted Tuesday's opening-round winners at the $220,000 Strasbourg International, a final French Open tune-up. Razzano held off Taipei's Ka

Snow Chief dies from heart attack >>
Paso Robles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former champion thoroughbred Snow Chief has died at the age of 27 from an apparent heart attack. The 1986 Preakness Stakes winner died on Saturday at Eagle Oak Ranch. Snow Chief was bred and co-owned by C

U.S. splits singles matches with Spain >>
Dusseldorf, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The United States and Spain split a pair of singles matches Tuesday at the ATP World Team Championship, a final clay-court French Open tune-up. Robby Ginepri was called on by the U.S. to

Quentin, White Sox take down Tigers >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Quentin went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored as the Chicago White Sox took a 6-2 win over the Detroit Tigers in an abbreviated two-game series. Juan Pierre had two RBI and two runs scored wh

AL West: Angels hoping to make up ground >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - As we near the quarter-post of the Major League Baseball season, it's usually a good tipping point to separate the contenders from the pretenders. Although some may start slow, the true contenders won't be held down for l

Super Bowl 2009 Betting

Super Bowl 2009 Betting propositions

Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.

Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.

Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.

If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.

Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.

By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.

In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.

So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.

While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.

There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.

In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:

SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.

XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.

XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.

Get free 2009 Super Bowl Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online Super Bowl betting VISA Mastercard