Cards try to make it two straight wins in Washington
Baseball Betting Lines
08/28/2010 -
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals will try move closer towards a
playoff berth tonight in the third test of a four-game series against the
homestanding Washington Nationals.
The Cardinals are one game off the wild card lead in the National League and
sit four games behind Cincinnati for NL Central supremacy. After losing the
opener of this series in 13 innings on Thursday, St. Louis responded with a
4-2 triumph Friday thanks to solo homers from Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday.
Pujols owns 401 home runs in his career after belting No. 400 a day before.
Jon Jay also plated a run and starter Jaime Garcia threw 5 1/3 shutout innings
with seven strikeouts to improve to 12-6. Ryan Franklin gave up a run in the
ninth and still managed to post his 22nd save of the season.
"Every game is big, especially in the situation we're in now," Garcia said.
Hoping to duplicate Garcia's success on the mound tonight will be Kyle Lohse,
who is just 2-5 with a 6.47 ERA in 11 starts this season. He ended a two-game
slide his last time out in a win at Pittsburgh on Monday, as he limited the
Pirates to two runs and six hits in 5 1/3 frames.
Lohse, a right-hander, beat Washington on May 17 this season and is 3-1 in
nine career matchups, seven of which have been starts, with the Nationals.
Washington is still trying to get over the awful news that pitching phenom
Stephen Strasburg will likely undergo Tommy John surgery on his right arm, and
may not be available until the 2012 campaign.
The Nationals sustained their fifth loss in six tries last night, as Willie
Harris homered and Ian Desmond ended with three hits and a run scored.
"We had 12 hits. The opportunities are out there," Nationals manager Jim
Riggleman said. "That means we're competitive against tough pitchers and tough
ball clubs."
Scott Olsen took the loss for Riggleman's club after yielding three runs --
one earned -- in six innings.
Toeing the rubber for the Nats tonight will be veteran Livan Hernandez. The
big right-hander, however, is 0-2 in his last four starts and was beaten by
the Cubs on Monday at Nationals Park. In the 9-1 decision, Hernandez gave up
seven runs and 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Hernandez was coming off seven innings of two-run ball at Atlanta, but
couldn't carry the success into his most recent outing. He is 8-9 in 26 starts
this season and 5-7 in 18 career meetings -- all starts -- against St. Louis.
Washington halted a six-game losing streak in this series with Thursday's
triumph. St. Louis has still prevailed in 14 of the last 17 meetings between
the teams and swept a two-game set from the Nationals at Busch Stadium in May.
<< First-place Reds aim to continue mastery of Cubs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first-place Cincinnati Reds can make it 12 wins in 15
games with the Chicago Cubs tonight, when the clubs meet for the second of
three weekend games at Great American Ball Park.
On Friday, Jay Bruce slammed a c
<< Mets, Astros go at it again in New York
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets will attempt to make it two straight wins
and improve to 15 games over .500 at home tonight, when they meet the Houston
Astros in the middle test of a three-game series at Citi Field.
The Mets won Frida
<< Struggling Braves try to snap skid vs. Marlins
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of 14-game winners square off this evening at Turner
Field, where the suddenly-slumping Atlanta Braves will host the NL East-rival
Florida Marlins in the second portion of a three-game series.
Atlanta has lost fo
<< Capuano leads Brewers into second test with Pirates
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former staff ace Chris Capuano makes his third start of the
season tonight, when the Milwaukee Brewers host the Pittsburgh Pirates in the
middle game of three over the weekend at Miller Park.
Alcides Escobar's two-run tri
<< Dodgers aim to stay on track against Rockies
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers still have their sights set on a
postseason berth and will try to continue the charge tonight against the NL
West-rival Colorado Rockies in the second installment of a three-game series
at Coor
2010 World Basketball Championship update - August 28th >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -
Group C: Greece vs. China, 9 a.m. (Ankara)
Final: Greece 89 China 81
Group D: New Zealand vs. Lithuania, 9 a.m. (Izmir)
Final: Lithuania 92 New Zealand 79
Group A: Australia vs. Jordan, 9:30 a.m. (Kayseri)
Gro
Francesco leads Edoardo in battle of Molinaris >>
Perthshire, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Francesco Molinari shot a four-under
68 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead over his older brother Edoardo after
the third round of the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.
Francesco Molinari f
AL Central: Desperate times for White Sox >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With each loss, each mounting injury, the odds against the
Chicago White Sox overtaking the American League Central crown grow
increasingly longer.
At the moment, the White Sox are 3 1/2 games behind
Snyder takes long road to 76ers >>
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -Quin Snyder was in a basketball nowhere land. He rode the bus on those three-movie road trips on the NBDL circuit where everyone in a uniform believed they were one big break away from a look at the big time.He was several years a
F MacArthur signs 1-year deal with Maple Leafs >>
TORONTO (AP) -Forward Clarke MacArthur has signed a one-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs.The team announced the deal with the unrestricted free agent Saturday.MacArthur had 16 goals and 19 assists last season between the Buffalo Sabres and
Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.
The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.
MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.
A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.
A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.
Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.
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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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