Astros, Cubs play makeup game at Wrigley

Baseball Betting Lines

06/11/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros and the Cubs will take a break from interleague play tonight, as the two clubs will stop in Chicago to make up a postponed game at Wrigley Field.

The two clubs were supposed to wrap a three-game set on April 11, but the game was postponed due to snow and rain. Houston took the first two games of that set in mid-April to snap a four-game losing streak to the Cubs, who won eight of 15 versus the Astros in 2006.

The Cubs have yet to begin the second stage of their interleague schedule, as they played the Atlanta Braves over the weekend. Chicago took the first two contests of the four-game set before dropping the final two, including Sunday's 5-4 loss.

The series got testy on Saturday, when Atlanta starter Tim Hudson hit Alfonso Soriano in the first inning. Soriano had homered three times the day before versus Atlanta.

Chicago's Sunday starter, Ted Lilly, then hit Edgar Renteria in the first inning yesterday, and was warned by home plate umpire Jim Wolf as the benches began to empty. No punches were thrown, but Wolf decided to eject Lilly after all.

The Cubs' bullpen did the best it could, but Ryan Dempster (1-3) gave up three runs in an inning of relief to take the loss. Michael Barrett and Mike Fontenot homered for the Cubs, who have dropped two straight after winning five of six. Chicago is six games back of Milwaukee in the NL Central, and will host Seattle on Tuesday to continue what is now a seven-game homestand.

Chicago remained without Aramis Ramirez, who is sidelined with left patella tendinitis, though the slugging third baseman was available to pinch-hit.

Carlos Zambrano will try to follow up on an excellent outing last time out. In his first start since his dugout incident with Barrett, Zambrano allowed two runs on five hits and three walks in 6 2/3 innings against the Brewers on Wednesday. He also struck out nine in the 6-2 victory that improved the right- hander to 6-5 on the year with a 5.38 earned run average.

Barrett did not catch Zambrano last week, and is not expected to do so tonight either.

Zambrano, who has alternated wins and loses over his last seven starts, is 8-5 in 19 games (17 starts) versus the Astros with a 2.57 ERA.

Woody Williams will try to get back on track when he starts against the Cubs tonight. Williams pitched well to close out May, besting the Reds 10-2, but was then pummeled at Colorado on Wednesday. The right-hander was tagged for six runs on 10 hits over six innings in an 8-7 loss to the Rockies, falling to 2-8 on the year with a 5.79 ERA.

Williams, who has lost three of his last four starts, is 3-8 in 17 games (16 starts) against the Cubs with a 4.55 ERA.

Houston fell to 3-3 on what is now a seven-game road trip with Sunday's 6-3 loss to the White Sox. Mark Lamb hit a solo homer for Houston, which had its brief two-game winning streak snapped.

Wandy Rodriguez (3-6) was ineffective in the loss, giving up five runs -- four earned -- on seven hits. He struck out three and walked one for Houston, which is 7 1/2 games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central. The club next hosts Oakland.

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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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MySportsbook.com Favors Fighting Irish to win College Football betting odds

According to odds makers at MySportsbook.com, on January 8, the Fighting Irish faithful may be toasting their 14th national title in Arizona – Notre Dame’s first national championship in close to 20 years.

Although MySportsbook.com has listed Notre Dame as the 5-1 favorite to win thecollege football College Football betting, fans in Columbus do not need to cancel their tickets to Glendale just yet.  The Ohio State Buckeyes, listed right behind the Irish at 7-1, are also heavy favorites to win college football’s most coveted prize, while West Virginia, USC and the 2007 National Champion Texas Longhorns - all listed at 8-1 – are strong contenders as well.

MySportsbook.com has also posted gambling odds on the conference championships for the ACC, Big 12 and SEC.  In the ACC – it could be anyone’s title, particularly for the two schools from the Sunshine State.  Florida State and Miami, both listed at 2-1, are favored to win the ACC Championship Game odds, with the ‘Noles hoping to finish in the nation’s top 10 for the first time in five years, and the ‘Canes looking to avenge their 10-7 loss against FSU in last year’s ACC Championship betting.

Moving west to the Big 12, MySportsbook.com has betting lines listing Texas as 7-5 favorites to repeat as conference champions, even though the Longhorns lost their national championship-winning quarterback Vince Young to the NFL.  In the south, the Auburn Tigers – led by Heisman-hopeful senior running back Kenny Irons – have been given the best odds to win the SEC Championship odds at 5-2.

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ODDS TO WIN THE BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Notre Dame
Ohio State
West Virginia
Texas
USC
Florida
California
Auburn
Oklahoma
Iowa
Louisville
Florida State
Michigan
Miami (FL)
LSU
Penn State
Virginia Tech
Nebraska
Tennessee
Georgia
Arizona State
Oregon
Clemson
Texas A&M
Texas Tech
Alabama
Arkansas
Boston College
Michigan State
Maryland
South Carolina
Colorado
Purdue
Georgia Tech
TCU
UCLA
Arizona
Pittsburgh
Iowa State
Wisconsin
North Carolina State
Virginia
North Carolina
Fresno State
Hawaii
Northwestern
BYU
Oregon State
UNLV
Field (Any Other Team)
5-1
7-1
8-1
8-1
8-1
12-1
15-1
15-1
18-1
20-1
20-1
20-1
20-1
20-1
25-1
40-1
40-1
50-1
60-1
60-1
60-1
70-1
70-1
100-1
100-1
100-1
100-1
100-1
150-1
200-1
200-1
200-1
200-1
200-1
250-1
250-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
400-1
500-1
500-1
500-1
500-1
1000-1
1000-1
40-1



ODDS TO WIN ACC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Miami (FL)
Florida State
Virginia Tech
Clemson
Georgia Tech
Boston College
Maryland
Virginia
North Carolina State
North Carolina
Wake Forest
Duke
2-1
2-1
3-1
7-1
15-1
15-1
15-1
30-1
30-1
30-1
50-1
500-1



ODDS TO WIN BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Texas
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Texas Tech
Colorado
Iowa State
Texas A&M
Kansas State
Missouri
Kansas
Baylor
Oklahoma State
7-5
9-5
9-2
12-1
14-1
15-1
15-1
30-1
30-1
35-1
100-1
100-1



ODDS TO WIN SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Auburn
Florida
LSU
Georgia
Tennessee
Arkansas
Alabama
Mississippi
South Carolina
Mississippi State
Kentucky
Vanderbilt
5-2
11-4
4-1
6-1
7-1
7-1
9-1
20-1
28-1
75-1
100-1
300-1

For complete NCAA football odds please visit Mysportsbook.com.