Sadowski, Giants' offense destroy Astros

Baseball Betting Lines

07/04/2009 - San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Sadowski got plenty of run support while throwing seven scoreless innings, as the Giants erupted offensively in a 13-0 whipping of the Astros.

Sadowski (2-0), who made his major league debut Sunday at Milwaukee and threw six shutout innings, allowed just three hits and a walk while fanning four for San Francisco, which was coming off a 5-5 road trip.

Nate Schierholtz and Edgar Renteria each contributed three hits to the onslaught, Pablo Sandoval added two more, including a homer and three RBI, and Travis Ishikawa belted a three-run homer for the victors.

Houston starter Felipe Paulino (2-5) lasted just two innings, getting tattooed for nine runs -- eight earned -- on nine hits for the Astros, who lost the opener of this three-game set after taking three of four from San Diego.

Sandoval got the rout started with a two-run homer in the first, scoring Randy Winn. Schierholtz followed with a single and later scored on a passed ball.

The Giants got more than they needed in the second. With two on and one out, Winn tripled to the gap in right-center for a 5-0 lead and came around on Schierholtz's two-out single. Renteria made it first and third with a base hit, and Ishikawa pounded an 0-1 changeup over the wall in right-center.

The three-run bomb was originally ruled a double, but instant replay was used and overturned the call to complete the six-run frame.

Jeff Fulchino toed the rubber in the home third and continued to serve as a punching dummy for the hosts. Aaron Rowand doubled with two outs, and the next four Giants recorded run-scoring hits.

Andres Torres hit a pinch-hit single, Sandoval followed with a triple and Schierholtz and Renteria capped the inning with a double and single, respectively, as the scoreboard ballooned to 13-0.

Sadowski allowed just one hit through six innings, and Jonathan Sanchez polished off the shutout with two scoreless frames of relief.

Game Notes

It was the first meeting of the season between the clubs...San Fran has won four straight as the host...Juan Uribe went 0-for-5 for the Giants, the only starting position player for the team not to register a hit...The Astros did not have any extra-base hits, compared to seven for the Giants.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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