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07/18/2010 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Holliday's two-out, game-winning RBI single capped a five-run rally in the final two innings, lifting the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers and a four-game sweep at Busch Stadium.
Entering the ninth protecting a one-run lead, Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton (3-1) couldn't hang on. Yadier Molina, who didn't start due to a scheduled game off, singled and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. After left fielder Xavier Paul made a running grab on Felipe Lopez's fly ball, Jon Jay kept the game alive with a walk.
Allen Craig followed with a single up the middle, scoring Molina without a throw, and Holliday laced a Broxton offering off the wall in right to plate the game-winner in Jay.
Craig, starting at first on his 26th birthday in place of Albert Pujols (rest), finished with two hits and three RBI for the Cardinals, who have won five straight and evened the all-time series between these storied franchises at 998-998-16. Randy Winn added two hits and an RBI in the win.
Ryan Franklin (4-1) earned the win for tossing a scoreless ninth inning.
The Dodgers, who have lost five of six, got six shutout innings from Vicente Padilla before the bullpen faltered. Travis Schlichting gave up two runs in 1 1/3 frames before Justin Miller yielded another run without retiring a batter.
Trailing by four in the eighth, the Cardinals crept closer with three runs off the Dodgers' bullpen.
Schlichting began his second inning on the mound by walking Brendan Ryan. Two batters later, Jay walked, and Craig greeted Miller with a double to left, bringing in both runners. Broxton was quickly summoned from the bullpen, and he allowed a two-out, run-scoring single to Winn to make it a 4-3 game.
Broxton followed by walking Skip Schumaker, but induced a groundout from pinch-hitter Pujols to end the threat and get to the ninth.
The Dodgers managed only one runner in scoring position in the first four innings, but Ronnie Belliard began the fifth with a single. Paul grounded into a fielder's choice before A.J. Ellis' single put runners on the corners.
Padilla stepped up to the plate and belted the first pitch he saw for a double, easily scoring Paul for a 1-0 advantage.
While St. Louis' offense was shut down by Padilla, Los Angeles scored three times in the seventh off Mitchell Boggs to increase its lead. Belliard singled, and Ellis reached on a one-out error. Garret Anderson pinch-hit for Padilla and smacked an RBI double to left before Ellis raced home on a wild pitch. Matt Kemp's walk with the bases loaded later in the inning put the visitors ahead, 4-0.
Game Notes
Dodgers manager Joe Torre celebrated his 70th birthday Sunday...LA first baseman James Loney (hamstring) did not play...St. Louis won the season series, 4-3, with the home team winning each contest...Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez (calf) and catcher Russell Martin (thumb) both sat out...The Cardinals have recorded an extra-base hit in 46 straight games, the longest active streak in the majors...Padilla has allowed two or fewer runs while throwing 6 2/3 innings in four straight starts. He yielded one hit and five walks on Sunday...Jeff Suppan gave up one run on five hits and a walk in six innings in the start for St. Louis...The Cardinals are 15-3 in regular season contests against the Dodgers at new Busch Stadium. St. Louis is also 14-1, including an 8-0 mark against Los Angeles, in games during the first home series following the All-Star break at new Busch Stadium.
<< Joh wins playoff for first Duramed Futures title
Bloomfield, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tiffany Joh birdied the fourth playoff hole
Sunday to defeat Gerina Mendoza and win the ING New England Golf Classic on
the Duramed Futures Tour.
Joh sank an eight-foot birdie putt on the fourth ext
<< McCann's grand slam helps Braves down Brewers
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian McCann hit his sixth career grand slam
and drove in five to lead the Braves in an 11-6 win and split of a four-game
series with Milwaukee at Turner Field.
Matt Diaz also homered, knocked in three
<< Twins rally for ninth inning comeback win
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Delmon Young's bases loaded run-scoring
single in the bottom of the ninth inning brought in two with the help of a
throwing error by Alex Rios, as the Minnesota Twins scored four runs in the
inning
<< Tolliver cruises to American Century Championship title
Tahoe, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Billy Joe Tolliver, the former NFL quarterback,
collected 26 points on Sunday to easily cruise to a record-setting victory at
the American Century Championship.
Tolliver finished with 84 points, which is a tou
NCAA investigating possible rules violation at South Carolina >>
Columbia, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NCAA is reportedly investigating South
Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders about possible rules violations regarding
dealings with a sports agent.
According to The State, Saunders is believed to b
Bettencourt gets 1st PGA Tour win in Reno >>
Reno, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Bettencourt captured his first PGA Tour win
Sunday at the Reno-Tahoe Open, closing with a four-under 68 in the final round
to beat Bob Heintz by one shot.
Heintz missed a three-foot birdie putt at the 18th ho
M's clip Angels in 10 to avoid sweep >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Lopez hit an RBI single in the top of the
10th inning, as the Seattle Mariners defeated the Angels, 2-1, to avoid a
four-game sweep at Angel Stadium.
Seattle snapped an eight-game skid to Los Angele
Mets avoid sweep, top Giants in 10 on Davis double >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ike Davis hit an RBI double with two outs
in the top of the 10th inning, and the New York Mets beat San Francisco, 4-3,
to salvage the finale of a four-game series at AT&T Park.
The Giants erased a
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
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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