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08/04/2007 - Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez hit career home run No. 500 as the New York Yankees downed the Kansas City Royals, 16-8, in the second of a three-game set at Yankee Stadium.
Rodriguez, who turned 32 on July 27, surpassed Jimmie Foxx (32 years, 338 days) as the youngest player to reach 500 career home runs.
Rodriguez smacked the first pitch he saw from Kyle Davies over the left field wall for his 36th home run of the season and became the 22nd player in MLB history to reach the 500 home run mark. He had gone 28 at-bats since his last hoe run, which occurred on July 25 against the Royals.
He is the third player to reach 500 home runs in the Yankee pinstripes, joining Hall of Famer's Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth.
It took Rodriguez 1,855 games to reach 500 home runs, which is the third fastest in MLB history. Mark McGwire did it in 1,639 games, while it took Ruth 1,740 games.
Rodriguez finished the day 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored and became the first player in MLB history to have at least 35 home runs, 100 runs scored and 100 RBI in 10 straight seasons.
Robinson Cano went 4-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored while Wilson Betemit added three hits and three RBI for the Yankees, who have won five of their last six games.
Phil Hughes, who had been out since May 1, made the start and gave up six runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings of work. Mike Myers (3-0) got the win for recording the final out of the fifth inning.
David DeJesus hit a two-run home run and drove in three while Ross Gload went 3-for-4 with three RBI for the Royals, who have dropped four of their last five games.
Davies got the start but was roughed up for five runs on six hits in just three innings of work. John Bale (0-1) got the loss for giving up two runs on five hits in 1 2/3 innings of work.
The score was tied heading into the bottom of the fifth, but New York grabbed the lead when Melky Cabrera hit into a fielder's choice to score Cano for a 7-6 advantage.
New York padded its lead in the sixth with four more runs. Bobby Abreu led off the frame with a homer to center. After the next two batters recorded outs, Jorge Posada kept the inning alive with a walk and Cano followed with a double. Joel Peralta then stepped off the mound and David Riske came in.
Betemit greeted Riske with a single to center to score Posada and Cano. Cabrera followed with a double to right-center to plate Betemit for an 11-6 lead.
The Royals got a run back in the seventh as Gload's sacrifice fly scored Mark Grudzielanek to cut the deficit to 11-7.
The Yankees, though, got the run back and more in the seventh. Derek Jeter led off the inning with a double to center and came home when Abreu followed with a single. After Rodriguez singled, Hideki Matsui roped a single to right to score Abreu. Posada followed with a walk to load the bases and Jimmy Gobble took the mound.
Cano welcomed Gobble with a two-run single and pinch-hitter Andy Phillips followed with a ground-rule double to score Posada for a 16-7 advantage.
Gload's RBI single in the ninth accounted for the final score.
The Yankees wasted no time taking the lead as they plated four runners in the first inning for a 4-0 lead.
With runners on first and second with one out, Rodriguez stepped to the plate and belted the first pitch over the left field fence for his 500th career home run. Matsui followed with a double, moved to third on Posada's ground out and crossed the plate courtesy of Cano's triple.
Kansas City got on the scoreboard in the third inning with a pair of runs. Joey Gathright led off the inning with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch. After Jason LaRue popped out, DeJesus brought home Gathright with a single to center. Two batters later, Mark Teahen knocked a double to left to score DeJesus to make it a 4-2 game.
New York got a run back in the bottom of the third as Betemit's single to right scored Rodriguez for a 5-2 lead.
The Yankees added another run in the fourth as Matsui's RBI single scored Abreu to make it a 6-2 contest.
Kansas City, though, tied the game in the fifth. Gathright led off the frame with a walk and two batters later DeJesus deposited a ball into the right field stands. Teahen later singled and Billy Butler followed with a double to center to plate Teahen.
After Myers entered the game, Gload tied the contest with a double to the right-center gap that scored Butler.
Game Notes
DeJesus has a 13-game hitting streak...It was the fourth four-hit game of the season for Cano and eighth of his career...New York has won five of its last six and 15 of its last 18 against Kansas City...Abreu finished the game 3- for-5 with two RBI and four runs scored...Attendance was 54,056.
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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.
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