AL West-leading Rangers continue set vs. Twins

Baseball Betting Lines

08/25/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers seem to be cruising to their first American League West title since 1999 and C.J. Wilson is a big reason why. Tonight, the reliever turned starter goes for a 13th win when the Rangers resume a four-game series against the Minnesota Twins at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Wilson won his second straight start and his fifth consecutive decision on Friday in Baltimore, as he came within an out of his first career shutout, holding the Orioles to three hits to improve to 12-5. He also struck out a career-high 12 batters in the win.

"[Wilson] just found the spot in that strike zone and he stayed there," said Rangers manager Ron Washington. "He and the umpire were on the same page all night. He threw some good changeups, spotted his fastball, threw a few breaking balls. But for the most part, he stayed off the middle of the plate and made them work for their at-bats."

Wilson's 12 wins and 3.02 earned run average are both tops among Texas starters who have thrown to a 4.15 ERA this season, the lowest mark for the group since 1992.

However, the Twins have given Wilson some trouble, as he is 0-2 with a 3.41 ERA in 18 games (one start) against them. He lasted six innings in his lone start with Minnesota back on May 28, and was charged with the loss for allowing five runs and four hits.

Texas made it three straight wins on Tuesday, as Michael Young overcame two errors by hitting the go-ahead RBI single in the seventh inning, lifting the Rangers to a 4-3 win. Josh Hamilton belted his 29th homer of the year for Texas, which has won four of five.

"The last two games we've showed the caliber team we are," Hamilton said. "I go back to three things, we can do all three...we can pitch, we can hit and we can play defense. If we consistently do that on a night to night basis, it's going to be hard to beat us."

One night after a near combined-no hitter, the Rangers used four pitchers to edge the AL Central-leading Twins. Colby Lewis allowed seven hits and three runs over 6 1/3 frames. Darren Oliver (1-1) threw 1 1/3 innings and escaped a jam in the top of the seventh to get the victory. Darren O'Day recorded the final out in the eighth inning and Neftali Feliz pitched the ninth for his 32nd save.

Michael Cuddyer stroked a two-run double in the first inning for Minnesota, which has lost back-to-back games for the first time since August 2-3 at Tampa Bay. The Twins are now 3 1/2 games ahead of the White Sox, who beat Baltimore on Tuesday.

Carl Pavano (15-9) threw his sixth complete game of the season and 13th of his career after allowing eight hits and fanning five batters.

Minnesota will turn tonight to their hottest starter in lefty Brian Duensing, who owns a 5-0 mark with a 2.18 ERA in seven outings (six starts) since the All-Star break. Duensing won his third straight start on Friday against the LA Angels of Anaheim, as he allowed run and seven hits in eight innings to push his record on the year to 7-1 to go along with a 1.92 ERA.

Duensing is 1-1 in four games (one start) against the Rangers with a 1.74 ERA.

Minnesota swept the Rangers in a three-game set at Target Field earlier in the year and has won seven of the last 11 matchups in the series.

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Super Bowl XLIII, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.

The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.

The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.

Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.

MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:

Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)

Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)

Matt Foust won both of his conference championship plays yesterday and he is ready to serve up plenty of Super Bowl action. Each individual play costs $15.00, however, MySportsbook.com recommends purchasing Matt's NFL Playoff Package which includes all of Matt's Super Bowl props and picks from just $45.00.

Get free Super Bowl XLIII Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online Super Bowl betting with 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.

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