David Murphy blasts a solo home run to right-center off Jered Weaver in the first inning to open up an early lead for the Rangers

Justin Upton crashes a solo home run to deep left field to push the Braves’ lead to 2-0 in the top of the sixth inning

Hunter Pence stakes the Giants to an early 3-0 lead by crushing a long three-run home run off Jorge De La Rosa in the first

Carlos Gonzalez crushes a solo home run into McCovey Cove off Madison Bumgarner to put the Rockies on the board in the third inning

Robinson Cano connects on a two-run home run to deep left-center field to extend the lead and tally his third home run in two games

Apr 10, 2013

Unibet casino review: One of the best Major League Baseball tips you can take heed of is to bet on the underdog. Betting on the team who isn’t supposed to win will not only guarantee you a larger return when you’re right, but allow you to be a long-term winner even when your success rate is less than 50.

Indeed, the nature of the Major League Baseball season often means that top ranked teams go through rough patches where they fail to perform to their full potential. It’s at this point that the underdogs can steal results and net you a healthy profit.

So how to you go about selecting which underdogs to bet on? Here are a few systems that are known to pay dividends:
The low scorers: When a team deemed the underdog wins their previous match with a low number of runs – 3 or less – then you should consider betting on them in the next game. The reason for this is that they will likely have a strong defensive game that allows them to grind out results against better teams.

Another way to find a potentially profitable underdog is to forget whether or not a team won their previous game and focus on some stats. Using a four step process you can find an underdog with a great chance of winning:
Firstly, sift through all the MLB odds for the day and discard any game where the favourite is listed as +150 or greater.

Once you’ve done this, you need to eliminate games where the underdog has lost three games in a row or where the favourite has put together a three game winning streak.

The third step in the process requires you to eliminate any underdog teams who are facing one of the top 20 pitchers (USA Today’s ratings are the most reliable for this). The reason for this is that the stats show the favourites usually win in this situation.

Once you’ve chipped away at the teams on offer you’ll be left with a handful of underdogs that will have attractive odds and a puncher’s chance of winning the game, thus earning you a healthy profit.

Mar 14, 2013

Few people will argue that the starting pitcher is one of the most exciting positions in baseball and the fact that two of the five highest paid men in the sport hold this position speaks volumes.

Over the years there have been some memorable starting pitchers, with each holding their own style in a bid to thwart opponents. Some throw at lightning fast speeds, while others will rely on a slightly more strategic technique.

Taking the above into account, here are my top three starting pitchers over the last decade. It is probably fair to say that not everyone will agree with the choices, but the fact that each man varies so considerably is a big reason behind my list.

#1 Randy Johnson

The very fact that this man could regularly pitch at 100 miles per hour is the principle reason why he is ranked at #1 on my list. Additionally, Johnson is a player who practically every individual reading this piece will have heard of, with his immense physical condition meaning that he was playing at elite level for over twenty two years.

After starting his career with the Montreal Expos, Johnson’s career transpired at a phenomenal rate and he played for a total of six teams. As he became more experienced, his pitches got more powerful and fortunately this speed was combined with terrific accuracy. This combination of attributes meant that Johnson was one of the most feared starting pitchers throughout his career and actually finished with a total of 4,875 strikeouts – the second highest in the game.

Of course, as you would expect from a US sensation, Johnson had his own nickname and was regularly referred to as the Big Unit. That name alone should endear you to him!

#2 Johan Santana

The man who takes 2nd position on my list is Venezuelan Johan Santana. At 33-years-old Santana is still in the game as he pitches for the New York Mets. Prior to that, he enjoyed a hugely successful seven year stint with the Minnesota Twins.

Considering the fact that the average speed of Santana’s fastball is 88-94 mph, it would be fair to say that he cannot really be classed in the same category as Randy Johnson. Nevertheless, the fastball isn’t where he made his name, with the slider being one of his key weapons.

It could be said that Santana doesn’t possess the reputation that Johnson has, and probably never will. However, he still has some fantastic records to his name, with two Cy Young Awards probably being his best accolade to date. He also became the first no-hitter for the New York Mets last year, while it is clear that the Mets value him immensely after they handed him the biggest pitcher contract in the history of the sport several years ago.
He might not be everyone’s pick, but Santana has something a little different that makes him a favourite of mine.

#3 C.C. Sabathia

If we’re talking money, C.C. Sabathia signed a contract about a year after Santana that made him the highest paid pitcher the sport has ever seen. However, this is not the reason he has made it onto my list – with statistics being the key to why he is a favourite.

Put simply, few players compete with Sabathia when it comes to the stats. He has never completed a campaign with fewer than 135 strikeouts, while he tends to average 200 pitched innings per season. Suffice to say, he is one of the New York Yankees’ biggest assets.

The style of Sabathia is something else that has attracted his name to this top three list. While a lot of pitchers only have one or two styles, he has four such as a fastball, a two-seam fastball a slider and a changeup. This makes him a real mystery for opponents and has obviously been one of the big reasons behind his success as the statistics highlight.

Author Biography

While Liam is based in the UK, he retains a keen interest in sports in the US with baseball being one of his favourites. His own website, bonusbetting.org.uk, looks to provide users with the latest betting offers on a variety of different sports.

The Central division is one of the three (along with the East and West) divisions that make up the American League, and it features some of the notable names in MLB – including the Chicago White Sox and the Kansas City Royals. Like all of the other separate divisions of the American and National Leagues, there is a good deal of crossover between those sides favoured to win the divisions and those favoured to achieve greater success – such as winning the league pennants or the World Series- but which sides would make good bets for this season’s AL Central?

Well at the moment the Detroit Tigers are firm favourites with most of the baseball betting sites, with odds of -200 and most people consider the crown to be a straight fight between them and the White Sox. However the team from Chicago are rated +450 second favourites and the main reason for this is that they have not really strengthened their line-up, whereas the Tigers have sought to build on last season, which saw them reach the World Series. If you were considering a bet on anyone outside of these two sides, the youthful Kansas City Royals (+550) might be an interesting pick, but should the Tigers manage to keep their players fit, it is hard to see past them.

Of course if you find the dominance of the Tigers a bit too predictable for your taste, playing a baseball themed slots game like Hot Shot at an online casino like www.luckynuggetcasino.com/au/online-pokies/ might be more appealing. This nine pay line, five reel, non-progressive slot is one of the best sports themed games around, thanks to graphics capturing a green baseball field, reel icons shaped like key baseball items including catchers mitts, pitchers and hitters, plus audio that gives you a roar from the crowd each time you get a winning reel with the gold cup scatter symbol and the sound of a baseball bat hitting a ball each time you get a matching reel.

Sources:
http://sportswire.ucabet.co/mlb/2013/02/2013-mlb-preview-favorites-to-win-al-central-division/
www.latestcasinobonuses.com/view/slots/microgaming/634/Hot-Shot

Miguel Cabrera cranks a two-run homer in right and gives the Tigers their first lead of the 2012 World Series.

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Jhonny Peralta in the ninth inning crushes a two-run shot to center field.

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