Choo and Tribe pound A's
Baseball Betting Lines
07/03/2009 -
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shin-Soo Choo went 4-for-5 with two homers,
a career-high seven runs batted in and scored four times, as the Cleveland Indians crushed the Oakland Athletics, 15-3, in the opener of a three-game
series at Progressive Field.
Travis Hafner belted a solo shot and walked twice, while Asdrubal Cabrera had
a pair of doubles and three RBI for Cleveland, which snapped a five-game
slide, but have only three wins in its last 16 games.
David Huff (4-3) picked up the win after working six innings. The rookie left-
hander allowed eight hits and three runs, struck out four and walked one, and
has won four of his last five starts.
Nomar Garciaparra had two hits, including a double and an RBI for the
Athletics, who have dropped seven of nine.
Trevor Cahill (5-7) was pinned with the loss after getting raked for eight
runs -- five earned -- on six hits in 3 2/3 innings. The right-hander walked
four and struck out two.
Holliday's ground out to shortstop in the first chased home Adam Kennedy, who
led off the ball game with a ground-rule double and took third on a grounder
to second to give the Athletics the early edge. Garciaparra's RBI two-bagger
in the top of the second made it a 2-0 game, before Hafner's solo blast got
the Indians on the board in the home half.
Choo's RBI single in the third pulled the Tribe even and left runners on the
corners with two outs. Hafner drew a walk to load the bases and Jhonny Peralta
chopped a ground ball to third, but Bobby Crosby's throwing error allowed two
more to come home to put Cleveland in front 4-2.
Jack Cust got one back for the A's with a run-scoring base hit in the top of
the fourth. Then in the bottom half, an RBI double by Cabrera and a two-run
double from Choo stretched the Indians lead to 7-3 and signaled the end for
Cahill. Santiago Casilla took over and walked Hafner and served up an RBI
single to Peralta.
Cleveland continued to pour it on in the fifth, putting five more on the
board. Luis Valbuena and Ben Francisco each singled to get the inning started
and both scored when Cabrera lined a two base hit to center. Later in the
inning, Choo's three-run homer upped the hosts lead to 13-3.
Grady Sizemore's run-scoring double in the sixth and solo homer by Choo in the
seventh put the Tribe ahead by 12.
Mike Gosling came on for mop up duty in the top of the ninth and got the final
three outs despite giving up a pair of hits.
Game Notes
The Tribe took five of nine meetings with Oakland last season, including a 4-2
mark as the host. Cleveland has won 10 of the last 14 matchups versus the
Athletics at home...The Indians improved to 2-5 on their nine-game
homestand...Choo also stole a base and is now 13-for-13 in steal
attempts...Oakland's Orlando Cabrera had his 14-game hitting streak snapped
due to an 0-for-5 performance.
<< Bottom feeders, L.A., N.E. aim to gain ground
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two Major League Soccer clubs stuck in the
bottom third of their respective conference tables square off on Saturday when
the Los Angeles Galaxy host the New England Revolution at The Home Depot
Center.
<< Braves hold on to beat Nationals, extend win streak to five
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brooks Conrad's first home run of his career
was a pinch-hit, three-run shot to help the Atlanta Braves take a 9-8 win over
the Washington Nationals in the opener of a three-game set.
Chipper Jones, Yunel Es
<< Stockton shares Edmonton Open lead with two others
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brady Stockton posted a three-under 69 Friday
to remain a co-leader after two rounds of the Edmonton Open.
Stockton, who shared the first-round lead with Robert Gates, completed 36
holes at 10-under-par
<< Leaving a trail: Turkoglu breaks off talks with Blazers
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sharp-shooting forward Hedo Turkoglu appeared
headed to the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday afternoon, but by nightfall
those talks apparently broke off.
The Oregonian newspaper originally reported Tu
<< Lopez solid on the mound as Phils handle Mets
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phillies recalled Rodrigo Lopez from
Triple-A Lehigh Valley to start the opener of a three-game series with the
rival Mets, and the right-hander responded with a quality outing in a 7-2
Philade
White Sox stay hot, upend Greinke's Royals >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Danks was dominant in 7 1/3 shutout
innings, as the red-hot Chicago White Sox extended their season-best winning
streak to seven games with a 5-0 blanking of the Kansas City Royals.
Danks (7-6) h
Hoffpauir's first career hit, Pujols' slam lifts Cards over Reds >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jarrett Hoffpauir came through in a big way
in his major league debut, hitting the go-ahead two-run single in the ninth
inning, lifting St. Louis to a 7-4 win over Cincinnati, in the opener of a
three-g
Mariners squeak past Red Sox in 11 >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rob Johnson went 3-for-5 with three doubles,
including a two-run double in the top of the 11th, to lift the Seattle
Mariners past the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox, 7-6, in the opener of a
three-g
Moss and Vazquez lead Pirates over Marlins >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Moss and Ramon Vazquez hit early home
runs, and the Pittsburgh Pirates shut down Hanley Ramirez, on the way to a 7-4
win over the Florida Marlins in the opener of a three-game series.
Charlie Morton
Rockies blank Diamondbacks >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jorge De La Rosa blanked the Diamondbacks
through eight innings, and Joel Peralta and Huston Street finished off
Colorado's 5-0 shutout of its NL West rival.
De La Rosa (5-7) won his third straig
Terrell Owens could return for Cowboys next game
A bye week will allow Terrell Owens broken hand to recover just in time for the next game the Dallas Cowboys are slated to play, according to reports. MySportsbook.com, an football sportsbook, has posted football betting lines on TO playing.
Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger Sunday night and had a plate surgically attached to it Monday. Although Owens' hand was swollen and aching Wednesday, Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said he's optimistic the receiver will be back at work next week and catching passes a week from Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.
MySportsbook.com online sportsbook listed Terrell Owens with odds of 7-2 (or $7 paid out for every $2 bet) to return back for the game against Tennessee.
"I certainly wouldn't rule it out now," Parcells said, referring to Terrell Owens immediate return. "Maybe five days from now I might, but I wouldn't rule it out now. ... I know we're looking to try to get him moving around pretty good in the next day or so. So we'll see where we are."
Owens did not speak with reporters Wednesday, but said Sunday he'd be out two to four weeks. A return against the Titans would be 13 days after the surgery. The Cowboys were listed as an early -7 1/2 favorite vs. the Tennessee Titans for Week 4 at MySportsbook.com
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Mastercard needs.
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 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.
|