Nationals pound Pirates behind Rodriguez

Baseball Betting Lines

09/04/2010 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ivan Rodriguez hit a two-run homer and knocked in four as the Washington Nationals thumped Pittsburgh, 9-2, in the second of three games from PNC Park.

John Lannan (7-6) struck out seven in seven strong innings, walked one and allowed a run on five hits for the Nationals, who broke a three-game losing streak. Ian Desmond added three hits and an RBI to the win.

Paul Maholm's (7-14) troubles continued, as the southpaw slid to a fifth loss in six starts after surrendering eight hits and seven runs in 4 1/3 frames.

Andrew McCutchen's 13th home run of the season highlighted the Pirates' offense on the way to their sixth loss in the last eight games.

The game was scoreless until Washington broke out in the fourth for five runs. The bases were loaded right out of the shoot on a pair of singles and a walk and Rodriguez chased in two with a base hit to right-center.

An error left men at second and third for Danny Espinosa, who drove in another with a single and Justin Maxwell added a fourth run with a sacrifice fly. Nyjer Morgan later scored Espinosa with a single.

Mike Morse led off the fifth with a base hit and scored on Rodriguez's two-run shot to left two batters later that ended Maholm's time on the hill.

McCutchen belted out a solo home run for a 7-1 game after five innings.

It was all Washington the rest of the way as Desmond doubled in Lannan in the sixth, then Morse tagged Chan Ho Park with an RBI single to plate Desmond in the eighth.

The Nats' starter gave way to Doug Slaten in the home eighth and Ronny Cedeno managed a two-out run-scoring double. Joel Peralta finished out the win with a scoreless ninth.

Game Notes

Washington swept a three-game set from the Pirates back in June and had won five in a row in the series prior to Friday's setback...Maholm fell to 0-4 in seven all-time meetings with the Nationals...Lannan picked up his first career defeat of the Pirates in six attempts...Rodriguez had three hits and scored twice. It was his third home run of the season...Lastings Milledge had three hits for Pittsburgh.

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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.