07/04/2009 - Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Micah Owings tossed 6 2/3 strong innings and hit his third home run of the year, lifting Cincinnati to a 5-2 victory against St. Louis in the second of three games between these NL Central rivals.
Joey Votto also homered and tripled, knocking in two, while Willy Taveras collected three hits and scored a run for the Reds, who had won four of five before dropping the opener to this set.
Owings (6-8) won for the third time in four starts, allowing six hits and two runs with two walks and six strikeouts. Francisco Cordero picked up his 20th save of the season by hurling a perfect ninth.
Brad Thompson (2-5) took the loss after lasting five frames and yielding five runs -- four earned -- on nine hits and two walks. Colby Rasmus hit a solo home run for the Cardinals, who had a three-game win streak broken.
St. Louis gained a short-lived lead on Rasmus' solo shot in the first, but Cincy tied it up in the home half when Taveras singled, stole second and scored easily on Votto's triple to right.
Owings helped himself with a solo blast to center the very next inning and the Reds went on to back his effort on the mound with three runs in the next two frames for a 5-1 lead.
A pair of errors in the third allowed Brandon Phillips first to reach base and score, and Votto began the fifth with his 10th home run of the year. Jerry Hairston Jr. plated Phillips with a fielder's choice later in the frame for the four-run advantage.
The Cards got one back in the sixth when Albert Pujols singled, advanced on a Chris Duncan walk and then on a fielder's choice before scoring on an errant throw from right following a Yadier Molina fly ball.
Nick Masset got Pujols to ground out to end the seventh with two on, and Arthur Rhodes tossed a scoreless eighth prior to Cordero shutting the door in the ninth.
Game Notes
Cincinnati gained a 5-4 lead in the season series with the win...Skip Schumaker had two of the Cardinals' eight hits...Taveras swiped his 16th bag of the year...St. Louis was 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position while Cincinnati was 1-for-11.
<< Nats rally in the eighth off Braves bullpen
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Dunn hit his 300th career home run and
drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single during a four-run eighth, as
Washington topped Atlanta, 5-3, halting the Braves' season-high win streak at
five ga
<< New jockey for Mine That Bird on the horizon
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chip Woolley, trainer of Kentucky Derby
winner Mine That Bird, indicated Saturday that an announcement on a new rider
for the three-year-old could come as soon as Sunday morning. Earlier in the
week Ca
<< D'Backs activate Petit off DL for Saturday start
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Diamondbacks have activated
right-hander Yusmeiro Petit from the 15-day disabled list to start Saturday's
game versus Colorado.
Petit has been shelved since May 9 with a right shoulde
<< Nestor/Zimonjic beat Bryans for Wimbledon doubles crown
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Canadian Daniel Nestor and Serbian Nenad
Zimonjic repeated as men's doubles champions at Wimbledon Saturday, beating
the top-seeded American twin Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, in four sets.
Nestor and
Callaspo and KC snap ChiSox winning streak >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alberto Callaspo went 2-for-3 and hit the
go-ahead two-run single in the sixth inning, as the Kansas City Royals came
back to top the White Sox, 6-4, and snap Chicago's seven-game win streak.
Callaspo
Mike Smith back on Mine That Bird >>
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eclipse Award winning jockey Mike Smith has
regained the mount on Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird. Smith has a two-
race commitment to ride the gelding starting with the West Virginia Derby on
Saturda
Wang leaves game >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang left
Saturday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays with a shoulder injury.
Wang departed in the sixth inning with a right shoulder strain, and is
scheduled to
Yi shoots 61 for Jamie Farr lead >>
Sylvania, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Korea's Eunjung Yi fired a 10-under 61 and
took the third-round lead Saturday at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic.
Yi holed out from the fairway for an eagle at No. 10 and collected eight
birdies in a flaw
Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.
New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.
His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.
HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.
The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.
RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.
First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.
The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.
These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.
New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.
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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.
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