Bailey to return as Reds seek sweep of Marlins

Baseball Betting Lines

08/15/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former phenom Homer Bailey makes his first big-league start in nearly three months when the Cincinnati Reds go for the sweep against the Florida Marlins in today's finale of a three-game series at Great American Ball Park.

The Reds made it two straight wins on Saturday night, when Mike Leake threw six solid innings and Francisco Cordero survived a rough ninth en route to a 5-4 triumph.

Leake (8-4) gave up six hits and three runs while fanning six batters to snap a three-start losing streak. The Reds went to Cordero in the ninth with a two- run lead, and the right-hander promptly loaded the bases with nobody out before Gaby Sanchez grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to score one run.

Dan Uggla then fouled out to first baseman Joey Votto, however, ending the game and giving Cordero his 31st save of the year.

Cincinnati moved back into a tie for first place in the National League's Central Division with the St. Louis Cardinals, who lost the middle game of their series with the Chicago Cubs yesterday.

Bailey, the Reds' first pick and eighth overall in 2004, hasn't pitched in the majors since going just 2 1/3 innings in a no-decision against Cleveland on May 23.

He went on the 15-day disabled list the following day with right shoulder inflammation and will take the scheduled turn of right-hander Johnny Cueto, who was suspended for seven games for his role in a fight with the Cardinals during Tuesday's game in Cincinnati.

Bailey went seven shutout innings in his last rehabilitation start for Triple- A Louisville, striking out nine and walking none.

He lost a 5-3 decision to the Marlins in his second start of the season, back on April 14 in Miami. That's his lone decision in two career starts against Florida, in which he's allowed 11 hits and five runs in 12 1/3 innings.

Florida replies with Venezuelan right-hander Anibal Sanchez, who'll be trying to reach 10 wins in a season for the second time in his five-year career.

The 26-year-old was a double-digit winner as a rookie in 2006, when he was 10-3 with a 2.83 earned run average in 18 appearances for the Marlins.

He'd won just eight times in three seasons before this year, when he recorded win No. 9 after allowing a pair of unearned runs on five hits in 6 2/3 innings of an 8-2 victory at Washington on Tuesday.

Sanchez has split a pair of lifetime meetings with the Reds while allowing 11 hits and five runs in 10 innings.

These teams split a four-game set in Miami from April 12-15, as well as four meetings held at Great American Ball Park last season. The Reds have gone 11-2 against the Marlins at home since 2007, however.

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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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