Indians, Mariners continue set between last-place clubs
Baseball Betting Lines
09/03/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shin-Soo Choo and the Cleveland Indians look to remain in the win column when they resume a four-game series against the homestanding Seattle Mariners tonight from Safeco Field.
Choo stroked a three-run double during a four-run sixth inning and later cracked a two-run homer in the ninth for the Indians, who ended a four-game losing streak and opened a seven-game trek in positive fashion with yesterday's 6-3 victory. Choo tied a season high with five runs batted in and is hitting .372 with nine RBI over his last 11 games.
"He's a legit complete player," Cleveland manager Manny Acta said on the team's website. "That five-tool word gets thrown around a lot, but he's legit five-tool."
Travis Hafner drove in a run and Asdrubal Cabrera finished 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored for the Indians, who had a 12-7 edge in hits. Josh Tomlin evened his 2010 mark at 3-3 with six innings of three-run ball, Tony Sipp tossed two scoreless innings of relief and Chris Perez struck out one in the ninth for his 17th save.
The Indians will also visit the Angels on this trip and are scheduled to send struggling starter Fausto Carmona to the mound Friday. Carmona has dropped five straight starts and most recently toed the rubber in last Sunday's 6-2 loss versus Kansas City, as he allowed three runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings.
Carmona is 11-13 with a 4.19 ERA and 6-4 in 11 road starts this season. He lost to Seattle on August 13 and is 2-2 with a 3.58 ERA in five career games (4 starts) against the Mariners.
Seattle has lost nine of its last 12 games and got another rough outing from Doug Fister. The right-hander lasted 5 1/3 innings on the hill and was touched for four runs and seven hits with three strikeouts.
"It was like watching two different ballgames," Mariners manager Daren Brown said. "First five innings I thought Fister was really good. It looked like we were going to swing the bats well and then it kind of fell apart in the sixth inning. The last part of the ballgame was like a totally different game, quite the opposite and turned the other way around."
Russell Branyan hit a two-run homer to highlight a three-run third inning for the Mariners, who are 2-5 on a 10-game homestand.
Luke French hopes to lighten Brown's spirits when he takes the mound Friday night in the Emerald City. French has alternated wins and losses over his previous six starts, and is coming off a victory versus Minnesota last Sunday.
French delivered seven innings of one-run ball to push his mark to 3-4 in 10 games (7 starts) this season.
The left-hander defeated Cleveland on August 21, 2009 in his only appearance against the club, and held the Tribe to three runs in six innings of a 9-4 triumph in the Forest City.
Seattle won two of three meetings with Cleveland last month at Progressive Field. The Indians, however, are 7-3 in the last 10 meetings in the series and 19-8 against the Tribe at Safeco Field since 2004.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics are coming off a beating in the Bronx and are back in the Bay Area to kick off a nine-game homestand starting with Friday's opener of a three-game series versus the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The
<< Rockies visit Padres for clash of slumping contenders
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If the Colorado Rockies are going to return to the
postseason, they need to turn it around soon. This weekend would be a good
start, as they begin a three-game series against the National League West-
leading San Diego Padres
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Phillies All-Star second baseman Chase Utley
recorded just four runs batted in during August. At the pace Utley's at so far
in September, his RBI total for the month will be astronomical.
Utley and the Nationa
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team is going to capture home-field advantage throughout the upcoming American
League playoffs. With Matt Garza on the mound against the Baltimore Orioles,
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Zack
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Kauffman Stadium.
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Red-hot Yankees eye seventh straight win vs. Jays >>
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Cubs, Mets kick off set at Wrigley Field >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs will try to continue their strong play
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series against the New York Mets at Wrigley Field.
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NL East-leading Braves send Kawakami to hill in Florida >>
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League East in the opener of a three-game set against the Florida Marlins at
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NFL Football Betting : Odds on NFL Division to Win the Super Bowl
The AFC South and the NFC East are the favorite divisions to have the next Super Bowl champ among them in the NFL betting odds. But more down to the point, these football odds are in favor of the Indianapolis Colts, by far the strongest team in the AFC South, and the Dallas Cowboys of the NFC East.
Most sports fans would agree that these two teams top the list to win it all before the season even begins. In the BetUS Sportsbook football futures, the Colts are +800 in the odds to win the Super Bowl, while the Cowboys are sitting at +1000 and the Super Bowl XLIV champions New Orleans Saints at +900. In the AFC South, the Colts won the division for five straight years after the 2002 realignment, before the Tennessee Titans won it in 2008. But the Colts came back strong in 2009 to win the division again en route to the Super Bowl. The Cowboys are the favorite to win the NFC East, as well as to advance far into the post season. The Cowboys won the division last season before their horrendous loss in the NFC Divisional playoff to Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings. But the ‘Boys will take that loss humbly and be ready for the playoffs this time around.
The NFC South is also very strong, at +600 in the NFL futures, considering that it is home to the defending Super Bowl champions. However, some predictions have the Atlanta Falcons with possibilities of claiming the divisional title this season in place of the Saints, as no team has won back-to-back division championships since the division realignment took place. Let’s not overlook the AFC North at +500. As TO goes to Cincinnati to join Chad OchoCinco and Adam “Pac-Man” Jones, this team looks to claim the division title again. And it is likely they will do so. The Bengals lost in the AFC Wild Card spot in a hard-fought battle against the New York Jets last season. Lest not forget the Pittsburgh Steelers, the XLII Super Bowl Champions… All these teams present interesting odds and matchups for the upcoming season, but the safest and surest bet seems to be with the Colts in the AFC South and the Cowboys in the NFC East. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.
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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.
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