The Red Sox and Orioles will close out their three-game series on Wednesday afternoon, with Dice-K gunning for his 17^th win.  Here’s your Daily Sports Roundup . . .

Event of the day . . .

Daisuke Matsuzaka (16-2, 2.82 ERA) is coming off his best outing of the season, holding the White Sox scoreless on two hits and two walks over eight innings of work in an August 29 win. The righthander also fanned seven in that contest. Matsuzaka has faced Baltimore twice over the past month and a half, winning both of those games.

The Orioles were expected to counter with Jeremy Guthrie (10-11, 3.57 ERA) in the series finale on Wednesday afternoon. However, Guthrie has been hit hard in each of his last two outings (giving up a combined 12 earned runs on 14 hits over 9 2-3 innings of work), and instead the team will skip his turn in the rotation this time around. Reliever Lance Cormier (2-3, 4.61 ERA) is the top candidate to start in place of Guthrie.

Baltimore has outfielder Adam Jones back in their lineup; he was activated from the disabled list on Monday, and homered in his first at-bat of that contest. Boston outfielder J.D. Drew (herniated disk in back) could return to the lineup at some point this week.

Non sports event of the days…

Surely Sarah Palin’s speech tonight at the RNC will get as much interest as any Veep speech in history.  Will it be as memorable as Warren Zevon appearing on the David Letterman Show?

It will be interesting to see if the political betting odds change much in the next few days based on Palin’s speech and the attacks on her daughter Bristol Palin.

Definition of vetted…

The talking heads are stealing our term. Anyone who has used our approved sportsbooks know that every sportsbook on that site has been thoroughly vetted so you can bet your NFL picks week 1 through the Super Bowl with supreme confidence.

Also vetted are the NFL odds masters on MasterLockLine.com where you get the biggest plays from the top handicappers in their highest rated sports. These picks are ahead of James “Whitey” Bulger on the most wanted list. Check out the live NFL lines which display just fine in the new Google browser.

Non-event of the day . . .

It’s been a long time since Barry Zito was considered a top pitcher, and he’ll be looking to avoid his 17^th loss of the season on Wednesday when the Giants play in Colorado. Zito (8-16, 5.62 ERA) was pounded for seven earned runs over just 3 1-3 innings in his last start (against the Reds). The Rockies‘ starter will be Aaron Cook (16-8, 3.88 ERA).

Also on the schedule . . .

Carl Pavano (2-0, 3.27 ERA) will be looking to keep that perfect record intact when he takes the mound for the Yankees in Tampa Bay on Wednesday night. Other games on the American League schedule: the White Sox at Cleveland, Seattle at Texas, the Angels at Detroit, Minnesota at Toronto, and Oakland at Kansas City.

Ryan Dempster (15-5, 2.95 ERA) will get the ball for the Cubs when they host Houston and Randy Wolf (8-11, 4.73 ERA) on Wednesday. Rounding out the National League slate: Atlanta at Florida, the Mets at Milwaukee, St. Louis at Arizona, Philadelphia at Washington, Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, and San Diego at the Dodgers.

Finally, there’s one WNBA game on the Wednesday schedule: Minnesota at Phoenix.

News from the wire . . .

Running back Rudi Johnson will look to get his career back on track in Detroit, as the Lions signed him to a one-year deal . . . Rookie quarterback Joe Flacco will get the start for the Ravens this weekend . . . Browns quarterback Derek Anderson is expected to return from his concussion in time for the team’s Week 1 contest . . . defected Predators forward Alexander Radulov seems unlikely to return to the NHL this season.

Peek at the future . . .

Scott Kazmir (10-6, 3.13 ERA) will take on Darrell Rasner (5-9, 5.08 ERA) in the Rays/Yankees finale on Thursday . . . Vijay Singh, the winner of each of the first two FedExCup playoff events, will be the favorite to take the trophy in this week’s BMW Championship at Bellerive . . . this week’s college football schedule gets underway on Thursday night, with Vanderbilt taking on South Carolina (-10) (college football odds)

It was somewhere around 25 years ago – an eon in the prospering life of modern sports betting – that Nevada’s licensed bookmakers first began employing money lines. The action was one of necessity as bet takers, in an effort to limit their susceptibility at being caught between two numbers (a situation called being middled or sided) sought a profitable (for them) but reasonably attractive (for bettors) alternative to moving pointspreads.

With money lines, (which are the wagering standard for baseball), players don’t lay or take points; they lay or take a price. For example, if the Colts are a 3-point favorite over the Broncos, on the money line, Indianapolis might be -160 (bet $160 to win $100) while Denver is +140 (bet $100 to win $140). No pointspread is involved.

“The time when a money line is really used in force is on a game such as the Super Bowl where a side or a middle literally could cost you millions of dollars,” explained a noted Las Vegas bookmaker with vast knowledge of the intricacies of money line management who asked not to be identified. “At a really large sportsbook, getting sided on the Super Bowl could cost the house well over $1 million.

“The time that a money line is really valuable is when the line is -3. Rather than moving the spread to -2 ½ or -3 ½, I like using a money line, especially if my jeopardy is going to be around seven figures.”

Of course, a bookmaker’s jeopardy or risk is a relative factor.

“Again, it’s up to the guy running the joint,” pointed out the bet taker. “Obviously, if you’re on -3 and you’re $2 million high, if you go to -3 ½ you know you’re going to get money back. How much do you want to risk? It all comes down to how much belly you have.”

Bookmakers also use money lines when they hang halftime lines, a game within a game where pointspreads based solely and independently on single halftime scores are offered.

“Halves are pretty treacherous,” admitted the bookmaker. “Using a money line is a tactical move because I think that’s the only way you can really book halftimes. If it’s pick with the money line and the game comes tied, all you do is give the money back. But it’s dangerous to go from pick to 1, pick to a ½ or pick to 1 on the other side because, quite obviously, if the game winds up 7-7 at the half, you’re going to lose a lot of money.

“That’s a strategic move because there are a lot smarter people betting the halftime than in a normal situation. When you take decent sized bets – say $10,000 to a number – using the pick money line pointspread for a halftime, I believe, is the best theory.”

Sports betting action usually dictates change but pointspreads don’t always move in tandem with money line shifts, and vice versa.

“It all depends,” said another bookmaker who also felt a bit squeamish discussing internal oddsmaking deliberations and demanded anonymity. “If wiseguys (informed bettors) are laying a side up, yeah, most of the time I will move the pointspread. But if it’s square (unsophisticated) money that moving the number, I’ll just leave it there because I don’t want to kill all the action. Sometimes, if you leave it there, they’ll bet that up, too. But if games are moving, especially in college, a point, a point and a half, two points a crack in an afternoon, you’ve got to move the money line. With the NFL, you can stay a little longer and take a hit.”

If there’s a player edge with money lines it’s probably in taking the odds with small underdogs. Since NFL games are decided by 1 or 2 points only about a combined seven percent of the time, some gamblers feel if you like the underdog you might as well forget the points and take a plus on the money line.

In the end, money lines are just another option sports betting option.

MONEY LINE VERSUS POINTSPREAD