O's edge Royals in 11 innings

Baseball Betting Lines

07/29/2010 - Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ty Wigginton hit two sacrifice fly balls, including the game-winner in the 11th, helping the Baltimore Orioles snap a five-game losing streak with a 6-5 win over the Kansas City Royals.

Nick Markakis and Corey Patterson both homered for Baltimore, which announced on Thursday that Buck Showalter will take over as manager next week. Brian Roberts went 2-for-6 and scored twice in the win.

Brian Matusz continued his struggles, allowing five runs in 3 1/3 innings, but was spared the losing decision. David Hernandez (5-7) pitched two scoreless innings for the win, and Alfredo Simon earned his 15th save.

Yuniesky Betancourt had two hits and drove in a run for the Royals, who saw their losing streak reach five. Jason Kendall and Rick Ankiel each added two hits in the loss.

Kyle Davies yielded four runs (three earned) in a 5 2/3-inning start, walking four and fanning three.

With Blake Wood (0-2) beginning his second inning of work in the 11th, Cesar Izturis worked a leadoff walk and moved to third on Roberts' single to right.

Markakis sent a ground ball to second, but Mike Aviles was able to throw out Izturis trying to score. Izturis remained in a rundown long enough for Roberts to gain third base, and he scored on Wigginton's deep fly ball to left.

Simon came on to save the game, but yielded a leadoff single to Aviles, who was quickly erased on Ankiel's double play groundout. Betancourt kept the game alive with a base hit, but Alex Gordon lined out to first to end the game.

The Orioles scored single runs in each of the first three innings to build a lead.

Roberts led off the game with a double and later scored on Wigginton's sacrifice fly in the first, and Izturis' RBI fielder's choice groundout doubled the lead in the second.

Markakis led off the third with a homer before the Royals stormed back with five runs in the fourth.

Matusz quickly allowed the bases to become loaded on a pair of walks and a double to start the inning, and he issued another walk to Wilson Betemit to force home KC's first run. Aviles followed with a sacrifice fly before Ankiel's single again loaded the bases.

Mark Hendrickson came in from the bullpen to protect the 3-2 lead, but Betancourt greeted him with an RBI single. Betemit also scored on the play on an error in the outfield, and Gordon followed with another run-scoring hit for a 5-3 contest.

Baltimore, though, came back to tie the game.

In the sixth, Felix Pie walked with one away and moved to third on an error by Betancourt. Patterson followed with an RBI fielder's choice groundout to cut the Orioles' deficit to one.

Patterson evened the contest in the eighth with a two-out solo blast off Robinson Tejeda.

Game Notes

The Orioles also made a roster shakeup on Thursday, trading third baseman Miguel Tejada to San Diego in exchange for a minor league pitcher...The Orioles lead the season series, 2-1...Kansas City had won each of Davies' last four outings...Showalter will take over on Monday and manage his first game on Tuesday.

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.