Baseball Betting Picks: Angels win Game 5, Get Back New York

The Los Angeles Angels cut into the New York Yankees lead in the ALCS with a 7-6 win in Baseball Betting Picks Game 5 Thursday night.

The Angels got to A.J. Burnett early, piling up four hits and four runs in the first innings. Burnett walked lead off batter Chone Figgins on five pitches, gave up a double to Bobby Abreu and an 2-RBI base hit to Hunter. Guerrero doubled, Morales singled and the Yankees were quickly down by four.

John Lackey pitched six scoreless innings but found trouble in the seventh. With one out, he gave up a double to Melky Cabrera and back-to-back walks to Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter. That brought the hook for Lackey.

The bullpen couldn't stop the bleeding, and in fact made it worse, giving up a double to Mark Teixeira, an RBI-single to Hideki Matsui and a triple to Robinson Cano. The Yankees had turned a four-run deficit into a two-run lead in one inning.

Not ready to call it a season just yet, the Angels rebounded quickly, chasing Burnett from the ball game with a lead-off base hit from Jeff Mathis and a walk from Erick Aybar. This time it was the Yankees bullpen that couldn't get the job done, giving up another walk, two more hits and ultimately the lead in the game.

Abreu grounded to first to score Mathis, Guerrero singled to center to plate Aybar and Morales dropped a ball in right field to bring home Hunter and put the Angels back on top for good.

Los Angeles went to Jered Weaver for the eighth and Brian Fuentes for the ninth. Weaver was perfect while Fuentes walked a couple and hit another to load the bases but got Nick Swisher to ground out for the save. Kevin Jepsen got the win for getting the final out in the top of the seventh.

The win sends the series back to New York this weekend. In Baseball Betting Picks Game six is set for Saturday with Joe Saunders taking the mound for Los Angeles against Andy Pettitte.

Saunders started Game 2 for the Angels and allowed just two runs over seven innings but left with the game tied. Pettitte started Game 3 for the Yankees and gave up 3 runs on seven innings and also didn't figure in the decision.

Betting Baseball - The Playoff Race

It’s September and that means back to school, kicks in and the Major League Baseball pennant races start.

The expansion to include one wild-card playoff contender in each league began in 1995 and provides more excitement to the season for those teams and their fans.

The wild-card race is open to all divisions across the American and National leagues adding to the thrill of the pennant race.

BetRepublic has been paying close attention to the pennant races, giving out their top baseball picks on the Bet Republic online TV sports betting show. This year is serving up its share of excitement, with teams battling down to the finish to determine who gets into the playoffs.

Teams play a whopping 162 games and it usually comes down to one game to either make the playoffs or not. Heading into September, the division leaders in both leagues all have at least a 41/2 game lead on the second place teams.

The closest race is in the American League Central where the Tigers lead the Twins by 41/2 games. Over the past 13 seasons, no team that led a division by more than three games entering September has failed to make the playoffs.

Now a lot can happen between now and the end of the regular season on October 4th but the division front-runners have been playing good ball since the all-star break.

One team that is slipping a bit right now are the L.A. Angels who are 4-6 in their last 10 games, but Texas who are five games behind the Angels have gone 5-5 over the same stretch. The addition this weekend of pitcher Scott Kazmir, acquired from Tampa Bay, will help the Angels keep their lead over Texas.

The Wild Card races are where the real excitement will be this fall. Boston leads the American League by 3 ½ games over Texas and is 5 ½ clear of Tampa Bay. In the National League it’s a dead heat between Colorado and the Giants.

San Francisco swept the weekend series between the two clubs to even their records at 72-59. Atlanta Braves and Florida are both 3 ½ games back with the Cubs just five games back. The Braves begin a four game series in Florida this week that will certainly have an impact on the race.

In the National League the wild-card teams are backing into the playoffs with no team other than the Giants at 6-4 in their last ten winning more than five over the same span. Colorado will try to right their ship against the hapless Mets this week and will meet the Giants for one more three-game set in September.

The Cubbies have Houston for two games this week before a make-up game with the White-Sox on Thursday. Chicago has a big four game series with the Giants at the end of September which could go a long way in deciding the wild-card winner. San Francisco is in tough this week with a three-game tilt at home against the Phillies.

In the American League, the Rangers host the miserable Blue Jays in a three game set to kick off the week. Tampa Bay plays host to Boston for a three game series this week. The same teams meet in Boston the following week for three games.

Boston is the hottest team in the race having gone 7-3 in their last ten but that includes sweeping the Jays this weekend. The Jays appear to have thrown in the towel for the season and the Rangers should take three against them to begin the week to keep them in the race with the Angels for the division.

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Obama’s 1st pitch a ball or Strike? Obama’s 1st Pitch All-Star Game

At the All-Star game, determined his ceremonial first pitch would reach the plate on the fly Tuesday night, Obama delivered - barely. St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols helped him out in moving up to scoop the low toss inches off the dirt.

Obama said, "We did a little practicing in the Rose Garden. This is as much fun as I've had in quite some time. I did not play organized baseball when I was a kid and so, you know, I think some of these natural moves aren't so natural to me".

However, Television viewers were initially left to wonder whether the presidential pitch skipped. Many people at Busch Stadium were not completely sure. Obama’s pitch to the nation is described in detail at baseball betting lines. Watch out the video as well.

Fox showed a replay from the center-field camera that proved the ball made it home in the air, when Obama later visited the broadcast booth.

Obama was at ease visiting the teams before the game and during his time on the air. Asked whether there were bailout funds to help the National League's losing streak, he cracked, "We're out of money."

Obama with a Chicago White Sox jacket, jeans and sneakers, and cheered by the sellout crowd, Obama walked out of the NL's dugout on the first-base side, shook hands with Cardinals Hall of Famer Stan Musial and trotted to the mound.

Obama went right to rubber, Fresh from warming up a day earlier on the White House grounds, all 60 feet and 6 inches away. The left-hander wound up and bit his lip as he let fly.

Obama grimaced slightly, but gave a fist pump when Pujols - a Gold Glove first baseman - made the neat grab with a specially made black mitt with "Obama #44" and an American flag on it.

Obama became the latest Chicago hoopster to try his hand at baseball. Like Michael Jordan, the president looked more comfortable in his other job.

Read more at Free Baseball Picks

Prince Fielder Won Home Run Derby, 2009 Home Run Derby Results

In St. Louis, Prince Fielder blasts the winning home run in the final round to win the 2009 All-Star Game Home Run Derby.

On Monday, In the Final, Prince Fielder won the Home Run Derby beating Nelson Cruz.

2009 Home Run Derby Results – Baseball Betting Lines

The youngest player ever to reach 50 homers, Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder, added another distinction to his growing carrier when he claimed the 2009 All-Star Home Run Derby crown Monday night.

In the final round, Fielder pounded 6 home runs, the capper a 423-foot clout to center field when he still had three outs left, to beat Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz 6-5.

Fielder, 5-11 and 270 pounds, who have averaged more than 37 homers each of the last 3 seasons, Prince Fielder Said, "Coming up through high school, coaches would tell me not to swing so hard. It's the only way I know. It just happens."

The outcome of this year's 2009 Home Run Derby put into perspective Josh Hamilton's feat in pounding out 28 first-round balls in the old Yankee Stadium last summer. Fielder's total for his 3 rounds was 23.