Buehrle finally gets 100th win as Sox salvage finale with Astros

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06/10/2007 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Konerko homered and Mark Buehrle finally earned his 100th career victory, as the Chicago White Sox defeated the Houston Astros, 6-3, to salvage the finale of a three-game set at U.S. Cellular Field.

Konerko finished with three hits, drove in two runs and also scored twice. Luis Terrero and Juan Uribe added solo homers for the White Sox, who snapped a five-game losing streak and won for only the second time in nine games.

Buehrle (3-3) had a solid outing, allowing one run on six hits while striking out four and walking one over eight innings. The left-hander had been 0-3 in seven outings since his 99th win on April 23.

Mark Lamb hit a solo homer for Houston, which had its brief two-game winning streak snapped. The Astros are 5-5 on the heels of a 10-game losing streak.

Wandy Rodriguez (3-6) was ineffective in the loss, giving up five runs -- four earned -- on seven hits. He struck out three and walked one.

The White Sox got the scoring started in the second inning when Konerko led off with a double and came around to score two batters later when Terrero singled to left to make it 1-0.

Konerko's one-out solo homer to left in the fourth increased the lead to 2-0.

Chicago continued on the home run attack in the fifth when Terrero hammered a solo home run to left and two batters later Uribe added a solo shot to put the home team ahead 4-0. The White Sox added another in the frame when Konerko singled in a run.

Lamb's two-out solo homer to right in the seventh inning got the Astros on the board.

The White Sox tacked on another run in the bottom of the seventh inning when Andy Gonzalez doubled in Tadahito Iguchi, who got things started with a one- out single.

Houston loaded the bases with one out in the ninth and scored a run on a Bobby Jenks wild pitch and another on an RBI ground out by Brad Ausmus to account for the final margin. Jenks recorded his 17th save of the season when he struck out Luke Scott to end the game.

Game Notes

The White Sox were without starting catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who served his one-game suspension for throwing his helmet toward home plate umpire Bob Davidson during the team's loss to the New York Yankees on Thursday...Iguchi now has a 12-game hitting streak, which equals a career high...The Astros will head uptown to Wrigley Field to play the Chicago Cubs in a makeup game on Monday before going home to start a three-game interleague set with Oakland, while the White Sox will head to Philadelphia to begin a three-game set with the Phillies on Monday night...Prior to Sunday's game, the Astros recalled left-handed pitcher Mark McLemore from Triple A Round Rock and sent catcher Humberto Quintero to Round Rock...Attendance was 33,433.

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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.