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Young pitching stud Stephen Strasburg takes to the mound for a second time Sunday against the Cleveland Indians. The early line on this game as the Washington Nationals as a rare -200 favorite at Bookmaker.com.
"Make no mistake about it, people are going to bet this line," predicts Don Shapiro of Gambling911.com.
That's because in his Major League Debut this past week, Strasburg had 14 strikeouts, the third-most by any pitcher in history in a big league debut. But forget the debuts, only five other pitchers since 1900 have had a 14-strikeout, zero-walk game in ANY game, at any point in their careers, in which they went seven innings or less.
The Strasburg start is ironically good for Cleveland as the Indians are expecting their second-largest crowd of the season.
According to USA Today, the Indians expected 18,000 fans for Sunday's game, but Strasburg's appearance could push them into the range of 26,000. The Indians said they had sold 3,300 extra tickets since midnight Wednesday, including 2,000 Wednesday afternoon.
Likewise, online bookmakers are hoping for a surge in baseball betting with Strasburg on the mound.
Traditionally baseball betting is reserved for only the most diehard fans, but Strasburg is bringing renewed energy to the game.
Dave Stanley of Sportsbook.com revealed that his company had received heavy action coming into the Strasburg debut against Pittsburgh. That prompted his book to begin offering a number of Strasburg betting props, including how many strikeouts the pitcher will have over the course of the remaining season.
Ean Lamb, Gambling911.com
