Record-breaking inning propels Rockies to rout of Cubs

Baseball Betting Lines

07/31/2010 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Gonzalez went 4-for-6 with a home run, three runs scored and two RBI, as Colorado scored 12 times with two outs in a franchise record-breaking eighth inning to pull away from Chicago, 17-2, in the opener of a three-game series.

The Rockies batted around twice in an unfathomable eighth frame that saw them set club marks for runs (12), hits (13) and consecutive hits (11), all while stranding the bases loaded.

Dexter Fowler had three hits, a home run and two RBI, while Ian Stewart homered and drove in three for the Rockies, winners of two straight on the heels of a miserable eight-game skid.

Jeff Francis (4-3) was efficient in a six-inning start, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk while striking out five to pick up the win.

Ryan Dempster (8-8) lasted only four-plus frames for the Cubs, surrendering five runs on seven hits and five walks in the club's third straight loss.

Sean Marshall entered from the bullpen and failed in trying to keep the Cubs within 5-2 in the eighth. The reliever had runners on the corners with two outs before the flood gates opened.

Gonzalez started the string of 11 consecutive hits with a RBI single to right. Troy Tulowitzki and Brad Hawpe followed with run-scoring doubles to chase Marshall, and Andrew Cashner proved even less effective in allowing six straight hits.

Chris Iannetta tripled to left-center to score Hawpe, then Stewart slugged one over the wall in right-center. Melvin Mora added a pinch-hit, run-scoring double following Clint Barmes' single, and Fowler got in on the act with his third homer of the season, a no-doubter to right.

Brian Schlitter mercifully relieved Cashner after Ryan Spilborghs' pinch-hit single and gave up a base hit to Gonzalez and two-run double to the left-field gap to Tulowitzki.

Hawpe and Iannetta walked to load the bases to keep the inning going, but Stewart flied out to center to end the marathon inning.

Colorado got the scoring started with a three-spot in the third. Seth Smith doubled in a pair, and Dempster walked three straight with two outs in the frame, the last a payoff pitch just off the plate to Iannetta to force in a run.

Gonzalez's 20th home run of the season leading off the fifth made it 4-0, and Dempster was pulled shortly thereafter following a single and two walks. James Russell came in and limited the damage to Stewart's RBI base hit to right.

The Cubs got to Francis in the sixth, as Jeff Baker singled and raced around on a triple to right from Tyler Colvin, who scored two batters later on a Derrek Lee groundout.

Game Notes

The 17 runs were the most the Rockies have scored since beating Florida, 18-17, on July 4, 2008...Of Colorado's 21 hits, 12 went for extra bases, also a club record. Every starting position player had an extra-base hit..Francis went unbeaten in five July starts...Matt Belisle, Rafael Betancourt, and Taylor Buchholz each threw a scoreless inning of relief for the Rockies.

Thwgreek Baseball Betting News

<< Gordon long ball in ninth leads Royals over Orioles
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Gordon hit a game-winning three-run homer with two outs in the ninth, and the Kansas City Royals put together a fierce rally to stun the Baltimore Orioles, 7-5, in the second of four games at Kauf

<< Prado leaves Friday's game
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Braves second baseman Martin Prado left Friday's game against Cincinnati with an undisclosed injury. Prado slid somewhat awkwardly headfirst into home plate on Jayson Heyward's game-winning two-

<< Twins remain hot, sink Mariners
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jim Thome and Alexi Casilla both clubbed a two-run homer, as the streaking Minnesota Twins beat Seattle, 5-3, in the opener of a three-game series at Target Field. J.J. Hardy had two hits and score

<< Peralta homers twice in Tigers debut; Detroit tops Boston
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jhonny Peralta hit a pair of homers and drove in three in his Tigers debut, as Detroit held on against Boston's furious ninth- inning rally for a 6-5 decision in the first of three between the clubs at Fenway

<< Harrell wins MLB debut as White Sox extend home win streak
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gordon Beckham had two hits and drove in two runs to support six solid innings from Lucas Harrell in his major league debut as Chicago downed Oakland, 6-1, in the opener of a three-game set. Harrell (1-0),

Edmonton gets by BC for first win of season >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ricky Ray threw for 360 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and the Edmonton Eskimos outlasted the British Columbia Lions, 28-25, at Commonwealth Stadium in Alberta. Ray completed 25-of-34 pass attempts

Langer up two at Senior Open >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bernhard Langer continued his hot play Friday as he carded a two-under 68 to grab a two-stroke lead after the second round of the U.S. Senior Open. Langer, who is coming off a win last week at the S

Murray into semis in LA >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Murray took a first-set tiebreaker against Alejandro Falla of Colombia and took control from there for a straight victory in the quarterfinals at the $700,000 Farmers Classic tennis event. The top

Marlins beat Padres to begin weekend series >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gaby Sanchez and Cody Ross homered to lead the Florida Marlins past the San Diego Padres, 4-2, in the opener of a three- game series. Hanley Ramirez and Logan Morrison each drove in a run for the Marl

Angels erase early five-run deficit, top Rangers >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Rivera had two hits, including a three-run homer, and the Los Angeles Angels overcame an early five-run deficit to beat the rival Texas Rangers, 9-7, in the start of a crucial intradivisional weekend

SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.