Big Unit defeats Carpenter, Giants top Cards
Baseball Betting Lines
06/30/2009 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Edgar Renteria went 3-for-4 with two RBI and Randy Johnson won the battle of former Cy Young Award winners, as the Giants pulled out a 6-3 victory over Chris Carpenter and the Cardinals in the second test of a four-game set.
Johnson (8-5) gave up three runs on four hits and four walks in 5 1/3 innings to win for the fifth time in his last six decisions. Bengie Molina had two hits and two RBI, and Pablo Sandoval finished 2-for-4 with a run knocked in and two runs scored for San Francisco, which has won five of seven.
Carpenter (5-3), previously 3-0 at home this year, was roughed up for six runs on 11 hits in just five frames for St. Louis, which has dropped six of seven.
As has been the case for much of the season, Albert Pujols provided the Cardinals' offense with two homers and three RBI, finishing the month of June with an eye-popping 14 home runs and 35 RBI.
The Giants got to Carpenter early on with three consecutive one-out singles in the first, the latter from Bengie Molina plating Randy Winn. Nate Schierholtz struck out with runners on the corners, and Renteria singled to left to bring in Sandoval for a quick 2-0 lead.
Sandoval was thrown out at home on a weak grounder to first by Schierholtz in the third, and Pujols hammered a one-out blast that flew by Big Mac Land to make it a 2-1 game in the fourth.
San Fran answered with four runs of its own in the fifth. Aaron Rowand singled, moved to third on Winn's double and scored on a Sandoval base hit to right. Bengie Molina followed with a sacrifice fly, and Schierholtz grounded out before run-scoring hits from Renteria and Travis Ishikawa.
Pujols continued to keep the hosts close by following Chris Duncan's pinch-hit walk in the sixth with his 30th home run of the year, the seventh time the reigning NL MVP has gone deep twice in the same game this season.
Johnson was pulled later in the inning after giving up a one-out triple to Ryan Ludwick and walk to Yadier Molina. Jeremy Affeldt entered and walked Rick Ankiel, though the reliever induced an inning-ending double-play ball off the bat of Tyler Greene to stem the threat.
Brian Wilson entered in the eighth with two on and two out and got pinch- hitter Skip Schumaker to ground out. In the ninth, the Giants closer worked around a one-out single by Colby Rasmus for his 21st save of the year.
Game Notes
Both teams entered the game with 41 wins...Despite Pujols' prowess during the month, St. Louis finished June with a 12-17 record....Lifetime against the Cardinals, Johnson is 7-7 in 15 starts... Carpenter was 3-0 in five lifetime starts against San Francisco coming in...The Giants have taken six of the past seven meetings in this series...St. Louis was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
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top of
Marlins time comeback over Nationals perfectly >>
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at Rang
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.
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