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
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The Sol's 4-0 win over the Chicago Red Stars Saturday, combined with the Saint
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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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