美国职业棒球大联盟开幕周给冷门赌徒带来希望

　　美国职业棒球大联盟可能是最难在赛前找的值得投注的黑马的比赛，赛事几乎总是结束于顶级球队，突然冒出来的球队能赢得世界职业棒球大赛是很罕见的，然而每年还是有成群结队的赌徒为他们的大冷门在拉斯维加斯体彩下注。

　　今年，高赔率的冷门名单几乎占全联盟的一半，比如费城人、洋基、红袜、游骑兵、老虎和道奇这些球队，获得的赌注远远超过其他球队，其中赔率最高的是太空人、大都会和金莺。

　　常规赛季的第一个完整周末给冷门赌客带来一些希望，大都会、金莺、太空人和道奇都出场参加比赛，金莺和大都会首个周末保持不败，太空人和道奇则只输一场。

　　赌盘上大都会的赔率是80:1，道奇的最高赔率是40:1，太空人和金莺是排名最高的前两名，分别是200:1和 150:1,另一只80:1高赔率的球队堪萨斯城也开始半年赛。

　　另一方面，洋基、红袜、费城人则是很惨地开始了他们的2012之旅，费城人是这三支球队中唯一在首个周末赢球的队，洋基和红袜则是在周一费城人输给马林鱼时才赢得今年的第一次胜利。

　　费城人是赢得今年世界职业棒球大赛的热门，赔率是11:2，洋基紧随其后赔率是7:1，老虎和天使的赔率是15:2，红袜和护林者的赔率是10:1，游骑兵是另一个没有陷入开幕周诅咒的幸运儿，他们已经进入三分之一季。

　　大部分的球队还有近160场比赛要打，开幕周的赛事并没有明示哪一只球队能够最终赢得世界职业棒球大赛，但是给了那些投注冷门的赌客一些希望。

　　译文：

　　MLB Opening Weekend Gives Hope To Underdog Gamblers

　　Major League Baseball is perhaps the toughest sport to find a dark horse team to bet on in the preseason. The top teams almost always are in the pennant races at the end, and it is rare that a team comes out of nowhere to win the World Series. Still, every year, gamblers flock to Las Vegas sports books to place their bets on the big underdogs.

　　This year, the list of underdogs with high odds was nearly half the league, as the betting favorites of Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Texas, Detroit, and the Los Angeles Angels, were far and away better than most other teams. Among the longest odds were Houston, the Mets, and the Orioles.

　　The first full weekend of the regular season provided some hope for underdog gamblers, as the Mets, Orioles, Astros, and Dodgers came out of the gates swinging. Baltimore and the Mets each went undefeated in the opening weekend, while Houston and L.A. only lost one game.

　　Coming into the season, the Mets were an 80/1 choice to win the World Series. The Dodgers had better odds at 40/1, and the Astros and Orioles were the two long shots at 200/1 and 150/1, respectively. Kansas City, another team with long odds at 80/1, also began the year 2-1.

　　On the other side of the coin, the Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies had terrible starts to their 2012 campaigns. Philadelphia was the only of the three teams to win on the first weekend of the season. The Yankees and Red Sox did finally pick up their first wins of the year on Monday, while the Phillies took another loss, this time at the hands of the Miami Marlins.

　　Philadelphia was the sports books' choice as betting favorite to win the championship at 11/2. The Phillies were followed by the Yankees at 7/1, the Tigers and Angels at 15/2, and the Red Sox and Rangers at 10/1. Texas did not fall into the opening week curse of the other favorites, as they have now gone 3-1 on the young season.

　　With most teams still having nearly 160 games left to play, the first weekend does not give a true indication of which teams have a chance to win the World Series, but it does give hope to those who placed a few bucks on the long shots.