Nats lose starter, win game

Baseball Betting Lines

09/06/2007 - Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Austin Kearns homered and scored three times to help compensate for the loss of Washington's pitcher, as the Nationals completed a three-game sweep of the Florida Marlins with a 6-4 win at RFK Stadium.

Tim Redding left in the third with an elbow injury but the offense and bullpen picked it up for the Nationals, who have won five in a row.

With a runner on second and one down, Miguel Cabrera hit a sharp grounder up the middle that caromed off Redding's right elbow. Redding then chased down the ball that had ricocheted behind him, and landed hard on the same arm while trying to field it. He was diagnosed with a right lateral elbow contusion, which is expected to keep him out for seven-to-10 days.

Jonathan Albaladejo made his major-league debut in relief of Redding and tossed 1 2/3 hitless frames, while Luis Ayala (1-2) picked up the win after working a flawless seventh. Chad Cordero took care of the ninth for his 31st save of the campaign.

Brian Schneider had two RBI for Washington.

Miguel Olivo hit a two-run homer for Florida, which has dropped nine of 12. Starter Sergio Mitre was roughed up for three runs on four hits over just two-thirds of an inning, and Matt Lindstrom (2-4) took the loss.

Washington plated a pair in the seventh to move in front, 6-4. All of the offense came with two outs, starting with a Kearns single and a walk to Ryan Church. Wily Mo Pena put his team in front for good with a base hit to center, and Schneider added an RBI base hit of his own off the newly-inserted Taylor Tankersley for a two-run cushion.

Jon Rauch struck out the side in the eighth before Cordero escaped some two- out trouble in the ninth.

The Nationals put up a three-spot in the first inning to claim early command. A Kearns single with one out loaded the bases, and Church came through with a base hit to center that scored Felipe Lopez. After Pena struck out, Mitre walked Schneider and Robert Fick in succession to push two more runs across.

Florida countered with a pair of runs in the third to slice its deficit to one. Jeremy Hermida doubled in Dan Uggla before Redding was forced to leave the game. Albaladejo entered with runners on first and third and got Josh Willingham to hit into a fielder's choice, but it scored Hermida to make it 3-2.

Kearns put the Nats back up by two with a solo homer to left in the fifth.

Olivo tied the contest at 4-4 with a two-run homer in the sixth. Willingham led the frame off with a double, and was driven in two batters later when Olivo lifted one over the wall in left.

Game Notes

Mitre is winless in his last seven trips to the hill...The Nationals lead the 2007 season series with Florida by a 9-6 count...The two teams combined to strand 15 runners.

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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.

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