Saturday’s Betting Tips
By Covers.com
Weather to watch
Indianapolis Colts at Washington Redskins: A 60 percent chance of rain could make this Week 3 preseason clash a wet and sloppy one.
Washington Nationals at Philadelphia Phillies: A 30 percent chance of a thunderstorm at first pitch. The threat of precipitation increases to 50 percent throughout the evening.
Who’s hot?
The San Francisco Giants. The Giants are riding a five-game win streak into Saturday afternoon’s contest with the Braves.
Who’s not?
The Cleveland Indians. The Tribe has dropped nine straight contests heading into Saturday’s tilt with Hiroki Kuroda and the Yankees. Cleveland has recorded a pair of losing skids of at least nine games this season. That run of futility marks a first in the franchise's 112-year history.
Key stat
Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre is the second player in MLB history to hit three home runs in a game and a cycle in a seven-day span. The other - Joe DiMaggio in 1948, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Game of the day
Atlanta Braves at San Francisco Giants (-150, 6.5)
Injury that shouldn’t be overlooked
Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Chad Billingsley left Friday night's game against Miami in the fourth inning with pain in his right elbow, an apparent recurrence of an injury that landed him on the DL for most of July. The Dodgers are waiting for the results of an MRI taken last night. Billingsley entered the contest with a 6-0 record and 1.29 ERA in his previous six starts.
Notable quotable
"The NFL really needs to kiss and make up with the refs, these replacements are horrible. Frankly, it's kind of embarrassing."- Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe after the team’s 12-10 loss to the Chargers on Friday.
Betting news and notes
Houston Astros interim manager Tony DeFrancesco admitted that he would have no issues welcoming veteran hurler Roger Clemens to the team, should that move come about. "If the Astros feel that it's time for him to come up here, then it's their decision, but I have nothing against Roger - he's a Hall of Fame pitcher," DeFrancesco said.
The Blue Jays pushed Left-hander Aaron Laffey to the bullpen to open a rotation spot for Brandon Morrow. Laffey had gone 3-5 with a 4.78 ERA as a starter and could start again when Toronto shifts to a six-man rotation in September.
A potential blockbuster trade circled involving the quartet of Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto being sent to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a package of prospects on Friday. The deal was finalized Saturday morning. Beckett was scheduled for Saturday’s start against the Royals but will have to be replaced. The Red Sox will pay just $12 million of the over $270 million owed to Beckett, Crawford, Gonzalez, and Punto
Five Things You Need to Know for this weekend (Aug. 25-26)
Atssportsline.com
5 Things You Need to Know in Sports
Looking for some action and the most interesting events of the weekend? There are seven NFL preseason games this weekend. Here is a brief look at the top four important matchups of the weekend along with a glance at future odds.
1)Indianapolis at Washington, NFL Preseason Week 3, FedEx Field, 4pmET, Saturday
It doesn't get any better than this for preseason. Robert Griffin III vs. Andrew Luck. This is a match made in NFL Preseason heaven. Both teams are 1-1 in the preseason. The Colts have covered both of their games though they lost to Pittsburgh 26-24 last week on the road. The Skins are coming off falling to Chicago, 33-31 last week on the road. Last year, the Skins beat Indy on the road in preseason, 16-3. Washington is 8-1 ATS in Week 3. Washington is a 3.5-point favorite and the total is 43.
2)Houston at New Orleans, NFL Preseason Week 3, Superdome, 8pmET
This should be a high-scoring preseason game. Houston won (SU and ATS) their first two games, beating Carolina and San Francisco. New Orleans has played three games and has lost 2 of 3. Last week, they fell at home to Jacksonville, 27-24. Last year, Houston beat the Saints in Week 2 of Preseason, 27-14, getting 2.5 at home. New Orleans is 5-0 ATS in Week 3. The Saints are 3-point favorites and the total is 44.
3)San Francisco at Denver, NFL Preseason Week 3, Mile High Stadium, 4pmET, Sunday
Peyton Manning faces one of the toughest defenses in the NFL on Sunday for his second home game. Denver split their first two games as they fell to Seattle last week at home, 30-10. San Francisco is 1-1 in the preseason, falling at Houston, 20-9 last week. Denver is 10-0 ATS off a home loss. Denver is a 2-point favorite and the total is 40.5.
4)Carolina at NY Jets, NFL Preseason Week 3 MetLife Stadium, 8pmET
The Jets will show up on Sunday night but will there offense show up? Carolina split their first two games, winning last week at home against Miami, 23-17. The Jets lost both games and have scored just nine points in two games. Mark Sanchez needs to put some points on the board. NY Jets is 8-1 ATS off a SU loss as a favorite. The Jets are a 2-point favorite and the total is 40.5.
5)U.S. Tennis Open Odds
Here are the latest odds to win the U.S. Open from 5dimes. Serena Williams is the women's favorite even though she is the fourth seed. Novak Djokovic is the men's favorite but Roger Federer has an excellent shot to win back-to-back Grand Slams, But he has to get past Andy Murray, who defeated him for the gold medal in the Olympics.
Men US Open
Novak Djokovic +160
Roger Federer +280
Andy Murray +425
Juan Martin Del Potro +1425
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga +5000
Milos Raonic +8000
David Ferrer +8000
John Isner +8500
Tomas Berdych +11500
Janko Tipsarevic +22500
Mardy Fish +22500
Tommy Haas +23500
Marin Cilic +30000
Alexandr Dolgopolov +30000
David Nalbandian +35000
Andy Roddick +35000
Stanislas Wawrinka +40000
Richard Gasquet +45000
Bernard Tomic +50000
Kei Nishikori +50000
Sam Querrey +57500
Gilles Simon +60000
Fernando Verdasco +60000
Philipp Kohlschreiber +62500
Nicolas Almagro +67500
Mikhail Youzhny +70000
Marcos Baghdatis +70000
Grigor Dimitrov +72500
Andreas Seppi +72500
Jeremy Chardy +75000
Kevin Anderson +100000
Ivo Karlovic +100000
Feliciano Lopez +100000
Florian Mayer +100000
Viktor Troicki +100000
Juan Monaco +100000
Marcel Granollers +100000
Radek Stepanek +100000
Jurgen Melzer +100000
Alex Bogomolov Jr. +100000
Ivan Dodig +100000
Thomaz Bellucci +100000
Julien Benneteau +100000
Donald Young +100000
Pablo Andujar +100000
Michael Llodra +100000
Fabio Fognini +100000
Jarkko Nieminen +100000
Nikolay Davydenko +100000
Brian Baker +100000
Denis Istomin +100000
Ryan Harrison +100000
David Goffin +100000
Gilles Muller +100000
James Blake +100000
Xavier Malisse +100000
Carlos Berlocq +100000
Robin Haase +100000
Adrian Ungur +100000
Albert Montanes +100000
Albert Ramos +100000
Alejandro Falla +100000
Benjamin Becker +100000
Benoit Paire +100000
Bjorn Phau +100000
Blaz Kavcic +100000
Cedrik Marcel Stebe +100000
Daniel Gimeno Traver +100000
Denis Kudla +100000
Dennis Novikov +100000
Edouard Roger Vasselin +100000
Ernests Gulbis +100000
Filippo Volandri +100000
Flavio Cipolla +100000
Go Soeda +100000
Guillaume Rufin +100000
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez +100000
Igor Andreev +100000
Jack Sock +100000
Jan Hajek +100000
Jerzy Janowicz +100000
Jesse Levine +100000
Jurgen Zopp +100000
Leonardo Mayer +100000
Lleyton Hewitt +100000
Lukas Lacko +100000
Malek Jaziri +100000
Marinko Matosevic +100000
Martin Klizan +100000
Matthew Ebden +100000
Michael Russell +100000
Mikhail Kukushkin +100000
Nicolas Mahut +100000
Olivier Rochus +100000
Paolo Lorenzi +100000
Paul-Henri Mathieu +100000
Philipp Petzschner +100000
Rajeev Ram +100000
Robby Ginepri +100000
Rogerio Dutra Silva +100000
Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo +100000
Rui Machado +100000
Santiago Giraldo +100000
Sergiy Stakhovsky +100000
Somdev Devvarman +100000
Steve Darcis +100000
Steve Johnson +100000
Tatsuma Ito +100000
Tobias Kamke +100000
Tommy Robredo +100000
Yen-Hsun Lu +100000
Women US Open
Serena Williams +110
Victoria Azarenka +760
Maria Sharapova +900
Petra Kvitova +1300
Na Li +1500
Angelique Kerber +2400
Kim Clijsters +3800
Samantha Stosur +4000
Agnieszka Radwanska +4500
Venus Williams +5000
Caroline Wozniacki +5000
Sabine Lisicki +10000
Maria Kirilenko +16000
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova +17000
Mona Barthel +18000
Marion Bartoli +24000
Jelena Jankovic +24500
Sara Errani +24500
Dominika Cibulkova +27000
Yaroslava Shvedova +27000
Andrea Petkovic +30000
Nadia Petrova +31500
Julia Goerges +32500
Lucie Safarova +32500
Ana Ivanovic +33000
Francesca Schiavone +33000
Christina McHale +34500
Chanelle Scheepers +34500
Roberta Vinci +45500
Tsvetana Pironkova +48000
Jie Zheng +52500
Daniela Hantuchova +52500
Klara Zakopalova +53000
Shuai Peng +53500
Sorana Cirstea +56000
Yanina Wickmayer +58500
Ekaterina Makarova +62500
Elena Vesnina +63000
Simona Halep +65000
Petra Martic +100000
Bethanie Mattek Sands +100000
Anabel Medina Garrigues +100000
Iveta Benesova +100000
Bojana Jovanovski +100000
Shahar Peer +100000
Jarmila Gajdosova +100000
Polona Hercog +100000
Monica Niculescu +100000
Ksenia Pervak +100000
Marina Erakovic +100000
Agnes Szavay +100000
Akgul Amanmuradova +100000
Alexandra Cadantu +100000
Alexandra Panova +100000
Alize Cornet +100000
Andrea Hlavackova +100000
Anna Tatishvili +100000
Anne Keothavong +100000
Arantxa Rus +100000
Ayumi Morita +100000
Barbora Zahlavova Strycova +100000
Camila Giorgi +100000
Carla Suarez Navarro +100000
Casey Dellacqua +100000
Coco Vandeweghe +100000
Galina Voskoboeva +100000
Garbine Muguruza +100000
Greta Arn +100000
Heather Watson +100000
Irina Falconi +100000
Irina Camelia Begu +100000
Jamie Hampton +100000
Johanna Larsson +100000
Julia Cohen +100000
Kateryna Bondarenko +100000
Kiki Bertens +100000
Kimiko Date Krumm +100000
Kristina Mladenovic +100000
Laura Robson +100000
Lourdes Dominguez Lino +100000
Lucie Hradecka +100000
Mallory Burdette +100000
Mandy Minella +100000
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez +100000
Mathilde Johansson +100000
Melanie Oudin +100000
Melinda Czink +100000
Michaella Krajicek +100000
Mirjana Lucic +100000
Nicole Gibbs+100000
Nina Bratchikova +100000
Olga Govortsova +100000
Olivia Rogowska +100000
Pauline Parmentier +100000
Romina Oprandi +100000
Sesil Karatantcheva +100000
Silvia Soler Espinosa +100000
Sloane Stephens +100000
Stephanie Foretz Gacon +100000
Su-Wei Hsieh +100000
Timea Babos +100000
Timea Bacsinszky +100000
Vania King +100000
Vera Dushevina +100000
Victoria Duval +100000
Virginie Razzano +100000