Phils head to Atlanta for NL East clash
Baseball Betting Lines
06/30/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies will close out the last portion of their current road trip with the first of three straight games against the NL East-rival Atlanta Braves at Turner Field.
Philadelphia is 2 1/2 games ahead of the Florida Marlins and three games in front of the New York Mets for the division lead, and has won two in a row to improve to 3-3 on a nine-game trek. The Phillies are coming off a weekend series in Toronto and won the set with Sunday's 5-4 victory behind Chase Utley's go-ahead two-run triple that highlighted a four-run fourth inning.
Shane Victorino, Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz finished with an RBI apiece for the Phillies, who recorded their first series win since taking two of three against the Mets from June 9-11.
Phils veteran Jamie Moyer gave up four runs -- including three homers -- on five hits in five innings for the win. He walked two and struck out four to pick up only his third victory in his last 11 outings. Moyer passed Bob Gibson for 43rd on the all-time wins list with his 252nd.
"I made a number of bad pitches and the ones I made that were bad got hit hard," Moyer said on the team's official Web site.
Phils closer Brad Lidge posted his 14th save with a scoreless ninth, but did allow a hit and walked a batter to make things interesting. Lidge was making his first appearance in a save situation since returning from a sprained right knee that landed him on the 15-day disabled list.
Meanwhile, shortstop Jimmy Rollins is expected to be back in the lineup and bat leadoff against the Braves. Rollins hasn't recorded a hit since collecting three against Toronto on June 18. He was benched the last four games and is riding a five-game hitless streak.
Philadelphia, which won for just the fourth time in its last 15 tries, will send Joe Blanton to the mound on Tuesday. Blanton is 2-1 with a solid 2.75 earned run average over his past six starts, but is coming off a 7-1 loss at Tampa Bay the last time out on Wednesday.
Blanton pitched seven innings of two-run ball and struck out 10 Rays batters, while issuing a pair of walks. The righty, who is 3-1 in his last four decisions, is 4-4 with a 5.06 ERA in 14 outings this season.
Blanton also sports an 0-1 mark and a 9.64 ERA in three career starts against Atlanta. He is 0-1 in two starts versus Atlanta this season.
The Braves, who are five games behind the Phillies in the NL East race, ended a four-game slide and salvaged the finale of a three-game series versus the Boston Red Sox with Sunday's 2-1 victory behind youngster Tommy Hanson's six shutout innings. Hanson improved to 4-0, struck out two and walked a pair of hitters.
"Once I got out there and the adrenaline started pumping, I felt fine," said Hanson, who was battling a case of the flu. Hanson's last two wins have come against the New York Yankees and Boston.
Braves closer Mike Gonzalez allowed a run in the ninth, but managed to record his ninth save of the season.
Garret Anderson and Chipper Jones both homered for Atlanta, which is 3-4 on a 10-game homestand.
Taking the hill for the Braves Tuesday will be Derek Lowe, who will start in place of Kenshin Kawakami. Kawakami is being skipped in the rotation to allow his bruised neck to heal, while Lowe is 0-3 with a 12.34 earned run average over his last three starts.
Lowe is coming off a setback versus the Yankees on Thursday, when he allowed eight runs -- six earned -- and 11 hits in just three innings of an 11-7 setback. He fell to 7-6 in 16 starts and raised his ERA from 4.09 to 4.53 this season after the Yankees game.
The right-hander hopes to have the same success against the Phillies he had during a 4-1 victory on April 5 in South Philly. Lowe tossed eight shutout innings of two-hit ball, struck out four and allowed no walks that day to improve to 5-1 in 12 games (8 starts) against Philadelphia.
Atlanta leads the 2009 season series against Philadelphia by a 4-2 count, with all games played at Citizens Bank Park. The Braves have won six of the last eight matchups between the teams
Philadelphia went 14-4 against Atlanta a year ago, including a 9-0 mark at Turner Field.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of rookies face their respective opponents - and each other - for the first time tonight, when the Washington Nationals visit the Florida Marlins for the middle test of a three-game series at Land Shark Stadium. Th
<< Reds return home to face slumping D-Backs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Right-hander Dan Haren looks for a measure of midseason
revenge tonight, when his Arizona Diamondbacks travel to Cincinnati for the
opener of a three-game series with the Reds at Great American Ball Park.
Haren, a 16-game
<< Rays put win streak on the line in Toronto
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays bested one of the best pitchers in the
majors last night and will try to duplicate that success Tuesday, when they
resume a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.
The Rays knoc
<< Yankees host Mariners in the Bronx
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hard-throwing right-hander Joba Chamberlain tries again for
win No. 1 on his new home field tonight, when the New York Yankees host the
Seattle Mariners in the opener of a three-game series at Yankee Stadium.
Chamberlai
<< Indians send Lee to hill vs. White Sox
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lefty Cliff Lee goes for two straight wins over Chicago and
three straight overall when his Cleveland Indians host the White Sox tonight
in the middle game of a three-game series at Progressive Field.
The American Leag
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Milwaukee Brewers are improving their stance in the National League Central, they're making it very difficult for the New York Mets to climb the NL East standings. The NL Central-leading Brewers will resume a thr
Johnson, Giants vie for another win over reeling Cards >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ageless lefty Randy Johnson seeks a third straight win and
a fifth in six decisions tonight, when the San Francisco Giants visit Busch
Stadium for game two of four against the host St. Louis Cardinals.
The Giants won the o
Seattle's Jaqua wins MLS Player of the Week >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seattle Sounders FC forward Nate Jaqua claimed
Major League Soccer's Player of the Week award for Week 15.
Jaqua tallied two goals and an assist in Sunday's 3-0 victory over the Colorado
Rapids in front of mo
D.C. United releases Peters >>
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United has released defender Anthony
Peters. The 25-year old was originally signed by United in March, and made one
appearance in the U.S. Open Cup.
"We'd like to thank Anthony for his hard work an
Los Angeles clinches playoff berth >>
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first-place Los Angeles Sol have become the
first team in Women's Professional Soccer to clinch a playoff spot.
The Sol's 4-0 win over the Chicago Red Stars Saturday, combined with the Saint
Louis Athleti
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.