The Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds are meeting for the first time in three years
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But the White Sox already know this: Don’t be confused by the Reds’ place in the standings. They’re not playing like a last-place team in the NL Central, even when they’re down late in a game.
And the White Sox pitchers will be told this constantly before the second game of the three-game series Tuesday night at Great American Ball Park: Anthony DeScalfani is a pitcher — and thus wouldn’t even take a swing in the American League — but is very dangerous with a bat in his hand in an NL ballpark.
But it took the Reds only one game to learn this: You must pitch to White Sox right fielder Avisail Garcia very, very carefully.
The Reds overcame a Garcia homer and a two-run deficit to beat the White Sox 5-3 Monday night in the series opener — the byproduct of an unusual four-run rally in the eighth inning keyed by a bases-loaded grounder to first base in which the White Sox tried to get two outs and ended up with none.
Pinch-hitter Alex Blandino’s two-run double to right field off Chris Volstad broke a 3-all tie with two out in the eighth gave the Reds their third straight victory — 12th in 15 games and 15th in 20 games. They also dealt the White Sox their fourth loss in five games and 13th in 18 games.
“He was living on the outside corner, nibbling out there and didn’t want to give me anything to hit, but I was able to put a good swing on it,” said Blandino, who was 3-for-21 (.143) coming into that at-bat. “This is a game of opportunities, when things don’t go as well as you hoped, you’ve got to keep fighting. And tonight is a step in the right direction.
“It’s been awesome … it’s somebody different every night, and we’re loving it right now.”
The Reds still trail first-place Milwaukee by double digits in the division, but they’re creeping closer to fourth place Pittsburgh after being in last since the day the season started. And they now have a winning record under interim manager Jim Riggleman (34-33), who took over for Bryan Price when the Reds were 3-15.
“We had some really good at-bats … and (after the play at first) the opportunity was there for us to win it
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On Tuesday, White Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito (5-7) will oppose Reds right-hander Anthony DeSclafani (3-1) in a matchup of pitchers who have never faced the other team. Giolito is 2-3 with a 6.81 ERA in his last seven starts, while DeSclafani has won his last three decisions.
Giolito is coming off perhaps his best start, taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning before leaving after giving up one run in 6 1/3 innings Thursday in what became a 2-1, 13-inning White Sox loss to the Minnesota Twins.
“I’m starting to throw the ball a lot better, I feel like it’s coming better out of my hand,” Giolito told reporters after the game. “Just take some good lessons from (this). In the seventh inning, I kind of let some pitches get away from me there. I wasn’t executing like I was earlier in the game. (I’ll) learn from that.”
DeSclafani is a pleasant surprise to the Reds after missing all of last season and the first two months of this season with multiple injuries. Not only is he pitching well, he hit a grand slam, one of the Reds’ club record-tying nine this season, during a June 23 start against the Chicago Cubs. The Reds have six grand slams in their last 17 games.
The Reds started off Monday night with a Scott Schebler leadoff homer in the first, then did very little offensively until White Sox starter James Shields was lifted with two out in the seventh.
In the eighth
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Reds right-hander Luis Castillo held the White Sox to a run over 6 2/3 innings, and the Reds withstood Garcia’s fifth homer, a solo shot in the eighth off Jared Hughes. Garcia is 19-for-52 (.365) during a 12-game hitting streak. He also has six hits in his last two games and is 11-for-24 with two doubles, two triples and two home runs in his last five games.
Jimmy Vaccaro has seen just about everything in 40 years of taking money behind the counter at sports books in this gambling city.
Until Monday. He had never seen a day like this.
Sports betting is about ready to explode across the nation, thanks to the collective wisdom of the justices on the Supreme Court. Their ruling that states are now free to offer sports betting means it may soon be as easy to bet a $20 parlay in some states as it is to order pizza on the phone.
Almost as important for some, it also wipes away the final stigma on an industry that Vaccaro has made both his occupation and his life.
”People like me have been waiting 35 years for this to happen,” said Vaccaro, who operates the sports book at the South Point hotel. ”For a 72-year-old bookmaker it’s special in a very personal way.”
No longer can the Roger Goodells of the world fool anyone with their absurd arguments about the evils of betting. No longer can the NCAA hide behind its archaic fears that college students everywhere will be wagering their scholarship money on Notre Dame plus the points.
Sports betting is now a legitimate industry. And it’s about to go nationwide in a big way.
Imagine, if you can, stopping on the way to the Meadowlands to watch the Jets and putting $20 on them to cover the spread. Better yet
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It’s all coming, and soon. By the time the NFL kicks off next season there easily could be sports betting in a handful of states, maybe more.
That didn’t exactly send bookies out dancing in the streets of Las Vegas to celebrate. There’s a lot of work to be done, and a lot of jockeying for position among gambling companies and sports book operators.
Yes, there is money to be made. But who makes it and how the major sports leagues are involved – if at all – will be a contentious battle over the coming months.
”It’s a gigantic step but there are so many more issues still to be handled,” Vaccaro said.
No one is certain just how big sports betting will become. Estimates of the betting market in the United States are mostly just guesses because no one really knows how many people like to bet or how much they will end up wagering, though for perspective Nevada books took in $4.87 billion last year.
One thing that is certain is that if sports betting is regulated like it is in Nevada, it poses no threat to sports leagues or their products.
”Sports betting has always had this dark cloud over it,” said Jay Kornegay, who runs the sports book at the Westgate Las Vegas. ”A lot of people associate it with organized crime, but over the last couple of years the climate has really changed dramatically. That dark cloud has been lightened, and could soon go away.”
Monday’s ruling set off a string of reactions from major sports leagues
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Then again, if there’s a profit to be made, the NFL doesn’t want to be left behind. The pro leagues have in recent months been angling for a piece of the profits with a so-called ”integrity” tax to protect their sports.
The integrity tax, of course, is little more than an attempt to extort money from bookmakers and bettors alike. There is no integrity problem – and no integrity tax – in sports betting in Nevada, where every dollar is watched closely and every point spread is tracked in casinos across town.
”It’s a tightly run ship in Las Vegas,” Kornegay said. ”It’s confusing to me that we haven’t seen more inquiries from other jurisdictions on how to regulate betting. They should understand how the books in Nevada operate.”
Kornegay pointed out – and rightfully so – that sports books aren’t exactly licensed to print money. They operate on small margins – with just a 5.1 percent hold in Nevada last year – and can actually lose money if they get on the wrong side of the action in any particular game.
No one feels sorry for the bookies when that happens, and that won’t change. But almost everything else will in an industry that has succeeded despite the best efforts of the sports leagues to shut it down.
Thanks to the Supreme Court, legal sports betting is coming to a state near you.
And that’s something you can bet on.
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Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org or
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