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Phillies head to Chicago riding win streakBaseball Betting Lines07/15/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies had an up-and-down first half, and it was no different for the club over the season's final week before the All-Star break. They do come out of the hiatus with some momentum, and the Phillies will look to extend that run versus a Chicago Cubs team that has a lot of work to do in the second half, beginning with tonight's opener of a four-game series at Wrigley Field. Philadelphia has won each of the last three National League East titles and the last two NL pennants, but comes out of the break trailing first-place Atlanta by 4 1/2 games in the division standings. The Phillies lost two of three to the Braves to begin last week, but then swept the NL Central-leading Cincinnati Reds in four games to close out the first half. The Phils took the first three games of the set in extra innings, the first two on walk-off homers before a 1-0 triumph on Saturday. They then claimed Sunday's finale again by a 1-0 margin and will try to match their longest winning streak of the season, set from April 9-14, tonight. "To take four from a very, very good team is a good positive," said Sunday's winning pitcher Cole Hamels, who threw 7 2/3 scoreless innings. Philadelphia comes out of the break 11th in the NL with a .255 team batting average, but is sixth overall with a collective 3.92 earned run average Ryan Howard leads the Phillies with 17 homers and 65 RBI and went 0-for-2 with a strikeout as the NL's designated hitter in Tuesday's All-Star Game, won 3-1 by the Senior Circuit. Roy Halladay, who won 10 games and posted a 2.19 ERA in 19 first-half starts for the Phillies, recorded a pair of outs in the sixth inning and allowed two hits while fanning a batter. Chase Utley was voted to start the game at second base, but he missed the contest due to right thumb surgery. Philadelphia also opens the second half without third baseman Placido Polanco due to a left elbow injury. Jamie Moyer lost the Phillies' finale with the Braves on July 7 and will seek to snap a two-start slide tonight. The 47-year-old had won three starts in a row prior to his skid and posted a 1.86 ERA in four outings before getting tagged for seven runs on seven hits and three homers over 5 1/3 innings versus Atlanta. It marked just the second time in eight starts that Moyer allowed more than two runs and dropped the lefty to 9-8 with a 4.51 ERA. Moyer, who was drafted by the Cubs way back in 1984, lost to Chicago on May 19 despite yielding just two runs on four hits over seven innings and is 3-2 with a 4.27 ERA in eight career starts versus the Cubs. Chicago resumes play 11 games under .500 (39-50) and 9 1/2 games back of the Reds in the NL Central. The Cubs, who begin a 10-game homestand tonight, looked to have picked up some momentum when they scored 23 runs in sweeping a three-game set with Arizona from July 5-7, but they then lost three of four to the Dodgers. Chicago was shut out, 7-0, in Sunday's finale, not surprising given the club is 14th in the NL with 359 runs scored. Center fielder Marlon Byrd was the Cubs' lone All-Star representative, and he certainly had an impact in the NL's win. He walked in the seventh inning and scored on Brian McCann's three-run double before recording the game's first outfield forceout since 1957 when he gunned down Boston's David Ortiz at second base in the ninth inning after John Buck's fly ball dropped in front of him in right. Byrd leads Chicago with a .317 batting average and is hitting .412 (14-for-34) with five RBI over his last nine games, but the former Phillie is hitting just .210 in 22 games against his old club. Chicago will need Derrek Lee (.233) and Aramis Ramirez (.207) to get on track on the second half, though Ramirez hit .429 (12-for-28) with four homers and nine RBI over his last seven games before the break. That could be good news for Ryan Dempster, who alternated wins and losses over his final five starts before break. The right-hander did beat Arizona on July 7 despite his shortest outing of the season, a five-inning stint in which he gave up three runs on eight hits. Dempster hasn't allowed more than three earned runs in any of his last seven starts and is 7-7 with a 3.61 ERA on the season. The 33-year-old got a no- decision versus the Phillies on May 20, giving up four runs over six innings while serving up homers to Utley and Jimmy Rollins. In 22 career outings versus Philadelphia, including 15 starts, Dempster is 4-4 with a pair of saves and a 5.05 ERA. The Phillies and Cubs split a two-game set in Philadelphia from May 19-20, giving the Phils a victory in eight of the past 10 meetings between the teams. They have also won five in a row at Wrigley Field, sweeping a three-game set there last season.
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves have done everything possible in this season's first half to potentially make Bobby Cox's last year as manager a special one. Seeking to give their manager one more championship before he retires at sea
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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later. While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better. For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory. 1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season. 2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped. How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number. Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules. Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically. How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games). Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition. Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets. To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on college football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards. Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers. A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers. Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers. The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5). Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries. The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38). To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. |
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