Peavy makes case for Cy Young Award in finale with Giants

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09/16/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres shoot for their eighth straight win over the San Francisco Giants this afternoon when the two teams conclude their three-game series at Petco Park.

San Diego will also be trying to sweep its second straight three-game set against San Francisco, as the club turned the trick in early August. Overall, the Padres have won 11 of their 14 meetings with the Giants this year.

A sweep seems likely today for San Diego with NL Cy Young favorite Jake Peavy on the mound. Peavy continued his impressive campaign on Tuesday versus the Dodgers, improving to 17-6 after limiting LA to two runs on five hits over seven innings. He also struck out five to up his NL-leading total to 215.

The right-hander's major-league best earned run average actually lifted to 2.44 in the win, while his 17 victories lead in the NL.

Peavy is 9-6 with a 3.44 ERA in 19 career starts against the Giants, besting the club in his first start of the season on April 3 behind six shutout innings. It will be his first start against them since.

The Giants will send Tim Lincecum to the hill today hoping the rookie can halt a recent winless drought. Lincecum suffered a loss against Chicago on August 21 and has posted three no-decisions since, including Monday against Arizona. The right-hander pitched well against the Diamondbacks, though, holding the club to two runs on six hits over 6 2/3 innings. On the year, he is 7-4 with a 3.99 ERA.

Lincecum started against the Padres for the first time in his career on June 25 and threw seven shutout innings, working around four hits and four walks in a no-decision.

The Padres got an excellent start out of Brett Tomko on Saturday, as the former Dodger tossed six shutout innings to help guide his new club to a 6-0 victory over the Giants.

Tomko (3-11), who was let go by the Dodgers to make room for former Padre David Wells and made his first start with his new club, allowed four hits and struck out five. It was his first win since July 15, at San Francisco.

Mike Cameron hit a two-run homer, and Adrian Gonzalez had three hits and scored twice for San Diego, which maintained a 1 1/2-game lead over Los Angeles and Philadelphia for the National League wild card spot. Both clubs posted victories on Saturday.

The Padres also picked up a game on the NL West-leading Diamondbacks, after Arizona was defeated by Los Angeles yesterday. San Diego is just two games back of Arizona in the standings.

Barry Bonds suffered a strained right big toe and left the game in the third inning for the Giants, who have lost three in a row overall. X-rays taken were negative, though Bonds is likely to miss the next two or three games.

Matt Cain (7-15) allowed just one hit and a run while fanning six over six innings for the Giants. He fell to 0-3 against the Padres this season.

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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.