Brewers take aim at third straight win in middle tilt with Rangers

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06/12/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers push for their third straight win tonight as they again host the Texas Rangers in the second of a three-game interleague set at Miller Field.

On Friday night the Brewers blasted four home runs against Texas starter Rich Harden, en route to a convincing 6-2 victory, the team's fifth win in six tries. But despite the triumph, Milwaukee still finds itself nine games under .500 on the season and a mere 11-17 at home in 2010.

Corey Hart, Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and Casey McGehee all had home runs for the home team, while starting pitcher Chris Narveson cruised through seven innings, giving up just two earned runs on six hits for his fifth win of the campaign.

"He kept the ball down, spotted his fastball and his changeup was really working," said Milwaukee manager Ken Macha about his starter's efforts on the hill. "The turnaround was the sixth when (Michael) Young led off with a double and didn't score."

Young recorded a pair of doubles in the loss for Texas, leaders in the American League West despite the setback. Vladimir Guerrero connected on his team-leading 14th home run of the season and Josh Hamilton hit safely in his eighth straight game, although his string of knocking in a run in consecutive games was halted at seven in a row.

Suffering the loss for the Rangers was starter Rich Harden, touched for four home runs for the first time in his career. Harden, who has surrendered the second-most home runs (14) in the AL this season, allowed a total of seven hits and walked three batters over six innings of action.

Making his first-ever appearance against the Brewers tonight, Texas has right- hander Scott Feldman scheduled to take the mound in Milwaukee. Feldman, who has a career mark of 27-27 at the moment, has watched his team alternate wins and losses over the course of his last seven contests. On Monday the six-year man made it through 5 2/3 innings, allowing three earned runs on nine hits, while striking out four in a 4-2 loss to Seattle at home.

Like Feldman, also making his first career appearance against the opposition tonight is Milwaukee left-hander Manny Parra. Now in his fourth year with the Brewers, Parra has started only a handful of games for his club thus far, the last of those coming on Sunday when he made it through 5 1/3 innings to pick up the win against St. Louis on the road. In that outing Parra permitted a pair of runs on two home runs and four hits, not to mention four walks, but he also fanned a season-high 10 batters.

Over the last seven games the Rangers have outscored the opposition by a combined 53-26 margin, thanks in large part to Hamilton and Guerrero. The former has plated a total of 13 and with his four home runs in 25 at-bats has a slugging percentage of 1.040 over the span. Guerrero has not only chipped in with nine RBI, he has also scored seven runs of his own for the club.

Not to be overlooked for the Rangers is Ian Kinsler who, despite being credited with only six total bases in his last 22 at-bats, has scored a team- best 10 runs in seven games.

Hart has given the Milwaukee offense a serious boost in the last six games, connecting on three home runs and forcing in six, while scoring five runs himself. McGehee and Braun have both knocked in five runs in the last six games however, during that same span Fielder has but one RBI for a team that is batting a collective .214.

Both clubs lost two of three in interleague play back in late May. The Rangers are 113-121 all-time versus the NL, while the Brewers are 86-102 in interleague play.

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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.