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Cubs carry hot bats into Steel CityBaseball Betting Lines05/04/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After getting their offense to break out in a home series over the weekend, the Chicago Cubs hit the road for six straight games beginning with tonight's first of three straight meetings with the Pittsburgh Pirates from PNC Park. The Cubs enter the Steel City off three consecutive victories over visiting Arizona in which the club racked up 28 runs and swatted eight homers. Chicago went deep three times in Sunday's finale, with Alfonso Soriano homering twice to pace a 15-hit barrage that led to a 10-5 triumph over the Diamondbacks. Soriano finished the day 3-for-4 with four RBI and drove in a whopping 10 runs over the Cubs' three wins in the four-game set. He belted four homers and batted a scorching .636 (7-for-11) as well during that time frame. Marlon Byrd also homered while knocking in three runs in Sunday's win, with Chad Tracy adding three hits, including an RBI single, and crossing the plate three times. Chicago battered Arizona starter Edwin Jackson for eight runs and 11 hits over the first four innings. "[Jackson's] a guy where you just have to wait for your pitch," said Byrd. "We got a day where he was a little bit off his game, and we're swinging the bats well, so it was a good combination for us." Tom Gorzelanny (1-3) was far more effective for the Cubs, with the left-hander establishing a career high with 10 strikeouts and holding Arizona to two runs over seven innings to notch his first win of the season. Chicago's big bats will be taking their swings against a Pittsburgh pitching staff that has combined for a major league-worst 6.79 earned run average so far this season and was beat up again in Sunday's 9-3 loss at Los Angeles. The Dodgers banged out 16 hits, seven of which went for extra bases, in dealing the Bucs a third straight loss. Most of the Dodgers' damage came against Jeff Karstens (0-1), with the Pirates starter being tagged for six runs and 11 hits in just five innings of work. "Too many balls were elevated," Karstens said. "Every ball they hit was elevated." Garrett Jones and Bobby Crosby both went 2-for-4 with an RBI for Pittsburgh, which finished 3-7 on a 10-game road trip through Houston, Milwaukee and Los Angeles. Paul Maholm will attempt to get the Pirates back on track when he takes the ball for tonight's opener. The southpaw has been one of the team's better hurlers in the early going, having pitched into the seventh inning in each of his last three starts. Maholm allowed four runs over seven frames in each of his past two outings, a loss at Houston on April 23 and a no-decision against Milwaukee last Wednesday. In his most recent appearance at home, the former first-round pick limited Cincinnati to two runs and four hits over a solid 6 2/3 innings to earn his lone victory of the season. The 27-year-old sports a 4-1 record in nine career starts against the Cubs despite having compiled a 7.06 earned run average during that span. Maholm was hit hard in his only encounter with Chicago last season, a four-inning stint at Wrigley Field in which he was rocked for seven runs on seven hits. Soriano has homered three times off Maholm in the past and owns a .333 (6- for-18) lifetime average off the Pirates starter. Ryan Dempster gets the call for Chicago this evening and will be vying for a fourth consecutive winning decision over Pittsburgh. The veteran righty was 2-0 in three starts versus Pittsburgh a year ago and shut out the Bucs on a five-hitter last September at Wrigley Field. Although he has not lost to Pittsburgh since September 5, 2006, Dempster is just 6-7 with a 5.46 ERA over 42 career appearances against the Pirates, 17 of which have come as a starter. However, he's posted a 3-0 mark with a 3.73 ERA through five starts in this series over the previous two seasons. The right-hander, who turned 33 on Monday, had won back-to-back decisions before being dealt a tough-luck loss by Washington last Wednesday. Dempster worked a season-high eight innings against the Nationals and allowed three runs on only four hits, but wound up on the wrong end of a 3-2 decision. In five overall starts thus far in 2010, Dempster has gone 2-1 with a strong 2.78 ERA and has held opposing hitters to a .197 average. Chicago went 10-4 against the Pirates last season, including a 5-1 record at PNC Park, and has prevailed in 15 of the past 19 matchups between these National League Central foes. The Cubs have emerged victorious in eight of their last nine games played at PNC Park.
<< Dodgers welcome Brewers to Chavez Ravine
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers aim to build off their first three-game winning streak of the 2010 campaign when the reigning National League West champions begin a three-game series with the slumping Milwaukee Brewers this evening a
<< Braves, Heyward head into DC to face Nats
<< Lakers aim to continue dominance over Jazz at Staples Center
<< Hawks, Magic kick off Eastern semis in Orlando
<< Bulls fire Del Negro
BoSox aim to bust out once again versus slumping Angels >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jon Lester hopes for the same type of run support the Boston Red Sox provided Clay Buchholz with on Monday as his team continues a four-game series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim tonight at Fenway Park. Boston's b
White Sox to resume home set with division-rival Royals >>
Burnett, Yanks hope for case of deja vu against Orioles >>
Blue Jays' Romero gets his chance to try to shut down Indians >>
Cards, Wainwright aim for another win over Phils >>
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. To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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. |
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